Kittel wins Stage 6 of Tour de France

Marcel Kittel prevailed in a sprint dash to the finish line to win Stage 6 of the Tour de France on Thursday.

Kittel outlasted France’s Arnaud Demare and fellow German Andre Greipel to win the 134-mile stage that began in Vesoul.

Chris Froome remained in control of the yellow jersey as he protected his lead.

“I think that we’ve ridden a good race tactically so far, in the sense that we’ve not ended up doing a huge amount on the front,” Froome said after the stage.

As for Kittel, the stage win was his second of the event. He was one of several cyclists bunched up near the conclusion and was he was able to overtake everyone in the pack to claim the victory.

“I took the right wheel and then attacked with 250 meters to go,” Kittel said. “I knew in the finale if I had good legs, in the final kilometer I would be able to find a gap and I found it with 250 meters left.”

It was and 11th overall stage victory for Kittel, who also won Stage 2 in Liege.

“I was really confident with my team and also really confident in myself,” Kittel said.

Froome’s lead is 12 seconds ahead of fellow Brit Geraint Thomas. Italy’s Fabio Aru is 14 seconds off the pace in third.