Marcel Kittel won stage 12 in a man-to-man fight with Mark Cavendish. It’s the third sprint victory of the German rider from the Dutch team Argos-Shimano.
As expected stage 12 from Fougères to Tours ended in a mass sprint. What was not expected was that Marcel Kittel took the win. The final kilometer was a difficult one, with two 90 degrees curves, and most people bet their chances on Mark Cavendish.
The Tour de France is a tough sports event where cyclist can be injured badly. Stage 10 showed again the dangers of a mass sprint. Mark Cavendish and Tom Veelers touched each other and Veelers went down at 65 km/hr.
This years’ Tour is not different than previous Tours. Every year riders get injured. Broken ribs, wrists, arms, concussions and scrapes happen almost every day. With high speed the riders hit the asphalt and it is sometimes amazing that they are still alive.
The 100th Tour de France kicked off on Saturday. World’s number one tourist destination will not spread over the French borders this year. The 21 stages, covering up a total of 3,404 km, will not only show heroic actions of the best cyclists of the world but brings the viewers along beautiful landscapes and several UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Porto-Vecchio on Corsica, was Saturday the scene for the start of the ‘Grand Boucle’. The Tour will stay on the island of Corsica for three days.
