Marcel Kittel pulls out of Tour of Britain with illness

The German sprinter also abandoned his last two stage races and says "it makes no sense to race"

Marcel Kittel at the 2018 Tour of California (Sunada)

(Image credit: Yuzuru SUNADA)

Marcel Kittel was listed as one of the headline riders for the Tour of Britain but his Katusha-Alpecin team announced on Wednesday that he would not take to the start line.

Kittel - who was eliminated from the Tour de France for missing the time cut alongside Mark Cavendish on stage 11 - abandoned the BinckBank Tour earlier this month and then the Deutschland Tour last week after racing just the first stage.

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Michelle Arthurs-Brennan