Chris Froome retains yellow jersey as Marcel Kittel takes consecutive stages
Team Sky's Froome retained his 18-second lead over Italian national champion Fabio Aru
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Your support makes all the difference.Marcel Kittel underlined his dominance of this year's Tour de France sprints as he won stage 11 in Pau for his fifth victory of the race, while Chris Froome came home safely to retain the yellow jersey.
German Kittel made it two wins in two days following his victory in Bergerac 24 hours earlier, as the pack broke the heart of solo escapee Maciej Bodnar inside the last 300 metres of the stage.
“It's something outstanding we are achieving here,” Kittel said. “It is a lifetime experience.”
Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen of LottoNL-Jumbo was second ahead of Team Dimension Data's Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen.
Dan McLay of Fortuneo-Oscaro came home in fifth, his third top-10 finish of this year's Tour and best yet, with Ben Swift of UAE Team Emirates ninth.
Team Sky's Froome crossed the line in the main peloton to retain his 18-second lead over Italian national champion Fabio Aru in the general classification.
The sprinters cruelly denied Bora-Hansgrohe's Bodnar, who attacked out of the breakaway with 28 kilometres remaining and tried to solo home, having been out in front from the very beginning of the 203.5km stage from Eymet.
But as the line approached Bodnar could only watch as Quick-Step Floors' Kittel, still well back in the pack at that point, swung around him before overhauling his rivals before the line.
“I'm not so happy about today,” said a dejected Bodnar. “I can be happy about my legs but not the end. You do all day on the front, you have 250 metres only to go.”
It was noticeable to see John Degenkolb's Trek-Segafredo team use social media to describe Kittel as “unbeatable” moments after the race finished, but even if his rivals believes it, Kittel dismissed the idea.
“Everyone can be beaten,” he said. “That's something that I always keep in my mind. I always keep the pressure on myself. If you get arrogant and think you are unbeatable then you will lose.”
It was billed as another quiet day in the battle for yellow, but although the feared crosswinds did not blow too strongly, there were moments of drama for the overall contenders.
Aru's Astana squad suffered a major blow in a feed zone crash with Jakob Fuglsang, fifth in the general classification, hurting his arm while key helper Dario Cataldo was forced to abandon the race.
AG2R La Mondiale's Romain Bardet, who sits third, 51 seconds off Froome's pace, also hit the deck but quickly recovered, while two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador went down with around 20km remaining before pacing his way back with the help of team-mate Jarlinson Pantano.
PA
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