Marcel Kittel wins the second stage of the VDK-Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde 2012
Marcel Kittel of Team Project 1t4i won the second stage of the VDK-Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde.
The German rode brilliantly right from the start of the race and was unmatchable during the final kilometres.
He finished the race in a fastest time of 4 hours, 51 minutes and 16 seconds to claim the top spot.
Alexander Kristoff of Team Katusha occupied the second position with Boy Van Poppel of Team UnitedHealthcare finishing at the third position.
Marcel is enjoying a terrific start to his 2012 season. His first victory of the year came during the second stage of the Etoile de Besseges.
The 23-year-old also claimed the third and sixth stages of the Tour of Oman.
The second stage victory during the Belgian race is considered amongst his best performances in the season yet.
While commenting on his recent win he noted, "When I saw the finish line for the first time I said to Bert De Backer ‘that's perfect for me.' It's 1,000 metres long, straight, wind on the back, high speed".
"That's something I really like. The finish was also chaotic and every rider has to fight on his own for his place and come to the front and that was something which was a big advantage for me," he concluded.
The German was challenged by Alexander Kristoff and Boy Van Poppel in the final 100 metres.
"I was lucky that Kenny Van Hummel started to sprint on the right side, Kristoff started to sprint on the left side and I could go in the middle," he briefed.
Marcel grabbed a total number of 20 points during the first stage. Alexander Kristoff and Boy Van Poppel earned 18 and 16 points in the respective order.
Kristoff is now leading the stage 2 classifications with almost the same time as the second place finisher Jacopo Guarnieri.
Maciej Bodnar of Team Liquigas-Cannondale is one second behind at the third position.
Fabio Sabatini, Steve Chainel and Sebastien Turgot claimed the fourth, fifth and sixth positions in the respective order.
Team Europcar is leading the team’s classifications with Team Liquigas-Cannondale and Team Landbouwkrediet – Euphony holding the second and the third spots.
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