PARIS, July 11 (Xinhua) -- German rider Marcel Kittel on Tuesday won the 10th stage of the 2017 Tour de France to record his fourth victory out of five flat stages in the world's most prestigious road cycling event.
It was Kittel's 13th career stage win in Tour de France since 2013, lifting him up to the top position on total stage victories by a German rider.
After a rest day, 180 riders regrouped themselves to approach the tough stages in the Pyrenees Mountains from Perigueux, while missing defending king of the mountains Rafal Majka as he withdrew from the race after being injured in a nasty crash in the ninth stage two days ago.
Two Frenchmen Yoann Offredo and Elie Gesbert made a quick breakaway from the gun, before Julien Vermote and Lars Bak seized the reins of the peloton. The gap between the two leaders and the peleton was extended to as large as over five and a half minutes.
Gesbert was the first to have crossed the two fourth-category climbs of the day, while Offredo won the intermediate sprint to earn 20 sprint points. The two riders finally got reeled with seven kilometers to go.
Kittel once again proved his unstoppable sprinting ability as he came back from the 10th position into the last kilometer to lead other rivals with 150m remaining. With one-bike-length advantage in hand, he could raise his arms for the celebration at the finish line in Bergerac.
"Four stage wins in ten days is impressive. I think I'm in the best shape I've ever had since my very first Tour de France," said Kittel.
After snatching 50 points for the top finish, Kittel has built a 100-plus-point margin over his Australian opponent Michael Matthews in contention for the sprinters green jersey.
However, Kittel kept a low tone about his chance of winning the jersey until the conclusion of the event.
"I'm not thinking that I've won the green jersey yet. Even in stage 20, something can go wrong," he added.
His fellow German John Degenkolb was placed second, with the Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen sitting on third.
Yellow jersey owner Christopher Froome had another calm day and retained his 18-second advantage over Italian rider Fabio Aru to wear the jersey for the 50th time in his career, equalling five-time Tour winner Jacques Anquetil in fourth on the all-time list.
"Today was quite a relaxed day as far as Tour de France stages go. Everyone calmed down," said Froome. "To equal Jacques Anquetil with 50 yellow jerseys is a huge honor."
The polkadot jersey representing "king of the mountains" still belonged to Frenchman Warren Barguil. Simon Yates kept his best young rider honor. Team Sky led the overall team standings by more than seven minutes.
Wednesday's 11th stage, featuring one fourth-category climb in 203.5km from Eymet to Pau, is another flat stage fit for sprinters.
