Tearful Kittel wins 10th Tour de France stage

Liege - German Marcel Kittel broke down in tears after winning his 10th Tour de France stage in Liege on Sunday.

Reigning champion Chris Froome suffered a scare on the 203.5km second stage from Dusseldorf, crashing 30km from the end but he got up to finish safely in the peloton, alongside race leader Geraint Thomas.

Frenchman Arnaud Demare was second and German Andre Greipel third in the bunch sprint, with Briton Mark Cavendish fourth as he challenged for a 31st stage win.

"I dont know what to say... It was an incredible start in Germany with so many people," said an emotional Kittel.

"Great! I'm super happy, super proud because it was for me a very special win today after we had the Grand Depart in Germany."

But the main drama happened 30km from the finish as the peloton chased down a four-man breakaway.

A rider from the Katusha team trying to set up Alexander Kristoff for the finish slipped on a wet bend and crashed, taking down around 15-20 riders.

Froome and yellow jersey wearer Thomas were among them, with the champion suffering cuts to his lower back and seeing his shorts shredded.

He got back on his bicycle to chase the peloton but was forced into a bike change before finally latching back onto the pack with 20km left.

Thomas seemed unscathed and maintained his five-second lead over Swiss Stefan Kung, although Kittel, who hit 69.19km/h in the sprint finish according to official Tour data, is now up to third overall at 6 seconds after taking a 10-second time bonus on the line.

"It's all good, it's a nice bonus to keep the jersey for another day," said Thomas.

"We were in a good position when me and Froomey crashed, in the top 10 or 15.

"A few guys went down in front of us and there was nowhere to go."

Australian contender Richie Porte was another to crash, but he said he escaped the worst of it.

"I'm ok, theres a few guys that went down quite a lot harder. I fortunately landed on top of them," said the BMC team leader.

Kittel's stage victory meant he took the sprinter's green points jersey as well, while American Taylor Phinney, who was in the breakaway, claimed all the king of the mountain points available and will wear the polkadot jersey on Monday.

The third stage on Monday is a lumpy one of more than 210km with a short climb to the finish which will favour punchy riders rather than pure sprinters.

Results from the second stage of Tour de France, a 203.5km ride from Dusseldorf in Germany to Liege in Belgium on Sunday:

1. Marcel Kittel (GER/QST) 4h37:06 (average: 44.1 km/h)

2. Arnaud Dmare (FRA/FDJ) at 0:00.

3. Andr Greipel (GER/LOT) 0:00.

4. Mark Cavendish (GBR/DDT) 0:00.

5. Dylan Groenewegen (NED/LNL) 0:00.

6. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA/BAH) 0:00.

7. Ben Swift (GBR/EAU) 0:00.

8. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA/COF) 0:00.

9. Michael Matthews (AUS/SUN) 0:00.

10. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR) 0:00.

11. Andrea Pasqualon (ITA/AJW) 0:00.

12. Pieter Vanspeybrouck (BEL/AJW) 0:00.

13. John Degenkolb (GER/TRE) 0:00.

14. Daniel McLay (GBR/FVC) 0:00.

15. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/KAT) 0:00.

16. Matteo Trentin (ITA/QST) 0:00.

17. Dion Smith (NZL/AJW) 0:00.

18. Angelo Tulik (FRA/DEN) 0:00.

19. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/DDT) 0:00.

20. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/AST) 0:00.

21. Vasil Kiryienka (BLR/SKY) 0:00.

22. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL/AJW) 0:00.

23. Yukiya Arashiro (JPN/BAH) 0:00.

24. Fabio Sabatini (ITA/QST) 0:00.

25. Guillaume Martin (FRA/AJW) 0:00.

26. Jay McCarthy (AUS/BOR) 0:00.

27. Rick Zabel (GER/KAT) 0:00.

28. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/DEN) 0:00.

29. Pierre-Luc Prichon (FRA/FVC) 0:00.

30. Mathew Hayman (AUS/ORI) 0:00.

31. Simon Yates (GBR/ORI) 0:00.

32. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/SKY) 0:00.

33. Adrien Petit (FRA/DEN) 0:00.

34. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 0:00.

35. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0:00.

36. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) 0:00.

37. Christopher Froome (GBR/SKY) 0:00.

38. Lilian Calmejane (FRA/DEN) 0:00.

39. Frederik Backaert (BEL/AJW) 0:00.

40. Daniele Bennati (ITA/MOV) 0:00.

41. Diego Ulissi (ITA/EAU) 0:00.

42. Carlos Betancur (COL/MOV) 0:00.

43. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 0:00.

44. Esteban Chaves (COL/ORI) 0:00.

45. Louis Meintjes (RSA/EAU) 0:00.

46. Richie Porte (AUS/BMC) 0:00.

47. Danilo Wyss (SUI/BMC) 0:00.

48. Marco Marcato (ITA/EAU) 0:00.

49. Michael Albasini (SUI/ORI) 0:00.

50. Jrgen Roelandts (BEL/LOT) 0:00.

51. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) 0:00.

52. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 0:00.

53. Rdiger Selig (GER/BOR) 0:00.

54. Paul Martens (GER/LNL) 0:00.

55. Tiesj Benoot (BEL/LOT) 0:00.

56. Julien Simon (FRA/COF) 0:00.

57. Pawel Poljanski (POL/BOR) 0:00.

58. Rafal Majka (POL/BOR) 0:00.

59. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/ORI) 0:00.

60. Fabio Aru (ITA/AST) 0:00.

61. Andrew Talansky (USA/CAN) 0:00.

62. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 0:00.

63. Jens Keukeleire (BEL/ORI) 0:00.

64. Thomas Degand (BEL/AJW) 0:00.

65. Jasha Stterlin (GER/MOV) 0:00.

66. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/FDJ) 0:00.

67. Daryl Impey (RSA/ORI) 0:00.

68. Tim Wellens (BEL/LOT) 0:00.

69. Koen de Kort (NED/TRE) 0:00.

70. Fabio Felline (ITA/TRE) 0:00.

71. Alberto Contador (ESP/TRE) 0:00.

72. Zdenek Stybar (CZE/QST) 0:00.

73. Michael Gogl (AUT/TRE) 0:00.

74. Jos van Emden (NED/LNL) 0:00.

75. Florian Snchal (FRA/COF) 0:00.

76. Brice Feillu (FRA/FVC) 0:00.

77. Pierre Latour (FRA/ALM) 0:00.

78. Oliver Naesen (BEL/ALM) 0:00.

79. Alberto Bettiol (ITA/CAN) 0:00.

80. Roy Curvers (NED/SUN) 0:00.

81. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/QST) 0:00.

82. Rigoberto Uran (COL/CAN) 0:00.

83. Timo Roosen (NED/LNL) 0:00.

84. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 0:00.

85. Sergio Henao (COL/SKY) 0:00.

86. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BOR) 0:00.

87. Cyril Gautier (FRA/ALM) 0:00.

88. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 0:00.

89. Alexis Vuillermoz (FRA/ALM) 0:00.

90. George Bennett (NZL/LNL) 0:00.

91. Juraj Sagan (SVK/BOR) 0:00.

92. Eduardo Sepulveda (ARG/FVC) 0:00.

93. Jan Bakelants (BEL/ALM) 0:00.

94. Jack Bauer (NZL/QST) 0:00.

95. Mathias Frank (SUI/ALM) 0:00.

96. Simon Clarke (AUS/CAN) 0:00.

97. Stefan Kung (SUI/BMC) 0:00.

98. Mikel Landa (ESP/SKY) 0:00.

99. Nicolas Roche (IRL/BMC) 0:00.

100. Michael Valgren (DEN/AST) 0:00.

101. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED/SUN) 0:00.

102. Ben Gastauer (LUX/ALM) 0:00.

103. Nils Politt (GER/KAT) 0:00.

104. Maciej Bodnar (POL/BOR) 0:00.

105. Laurens ten Dam (NED/SUN) 0:00.

106. Robert Kiserlovski (CRO/KAT) 0:00.

107. Amal Moinard (FRA/BMC) 0:00.

108. Nikias Arndt (GER/SUN) 0:00.

109. Luis Angel Mat (ESP/COF) 0:00.

110. Romain Hardy (FRA/FVC) 0:00.

111. Emanuel Buchmann (GER/BOR) 0:00.

112. Mark Renshaw (AUS/DDT) 0:00.

113. Daniel Martin (IRL/QST) 0:00.

114. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP/MOV) 0:00.

115. Simon Geschke (GER/SUN) 0:00.

116. Maxime Bouet (FRA/FVC) 0:00.

117. Serge Pauwels (BEL/DDT) 0:00.

118. Vegard Laengen (NOR/EAU) 0:00.

119. Warren Barguil (FRA/SUN) 0:00.

120. Damien Howson (AUS/ORI) 0:00.

121. Primoz Roglic (SLO/LNL) 0:00.

122. Janez Brajkovic (SLO/BAH) 0:00.

123. Mikel Nieve (ESP/SKY) 0:00.

124. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/TRE) 0:00.

125. Jarlinson Pantano (COL/TRE) 0:00.

126. Tiago Machado (POR/KAT) 0:00.

127. Patrick Bevin (NZL/CAN) 0:00.

128. Perrig Qumeneur (FRA/DEN) 0:00.

129. Marco Minnaard (NED/AJW) 0:00.

130. Pierre Rolland (FRA/CAN) 0:00.

131. Robert Gesink (NED/LNL) 0:00.

132. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA/DDT) 0:00.

133. Yohann Gne (FRA/DEN) 0:00.

134. Darwin Atapuma (COL/EAU) 0:00.

135. Rudy Molard (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.

136. Andrey Zeits (KAZ/AST) 0:00.

137. Dario Cataldo (ITA/AST) 0:00.

138. Markel Irizar (ESP/TRE) 0:00.

139. Romain Sicard (FRA/DEN) 0:00.

140. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA/QST) 0:00.

141. Lars Bak (DEN/LOT) 0:00.

142. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.

143. Tsgabu Grmay (ETH/BAH) 0:00.

144. Ondrej Cink (CZE/BAH) 0:00.

145. Kristijan urasek (CRO/EAU) 0:00.

146. Taylor Phinney (USA/CAN) 0:00.

147. Christian Knees (GER/SKY) 0:00.

148. Yoann Offredo (FRA/AJW) 0:00.

149. Marcel Sieberg (GER/LOT) 0:00.

150. Nathan Brown (USA/CAN) 0:00.

151. Nicolas Edet (FRA/COF) 0:00.

152. Jesus Herrada (ESP/MOV) 0:00.

153. Mike Teunissen (NED/SUN) 0:00.

154. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.

155. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/DDT) 0:00.

156. Robert Wagner (GER/LNL) 0:00.

157. Alessandro De Marchi (ITA/BMC) 0:00.

158. Manuele Mori (ITA/EAU) 0:00.

159. Grega Bole (SLO/BAH) 0:00.

160. Daniel Navarro (ESP/COF) 0:00.

161. Stephen Cummings (GBR/DDT) 0:00.

162. Scott Thwaites (GBR/DDT) 0:26.

163. Borut Bozic (SLO/BAH) 0:51.

164. Davide Cimolai (ITA/FDJ) 0:53.

165. Julien Vermote (BEL/QST) 1:00.

166. Thomas De Gendt (BEL/LOT) 1:00.

167. Adam Hansen (AUS/LOT) 1:00.

168. Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ/AST) 1:00.

169. Albert Timmer (NED/SUN) 1:00.

170. Elie Gesbert (FRA/FVC) 1:00.

171. Florian Vachon (FRA/FVC) 1:00.

172. Thomas Boudat (FRA/DEN) 1:23.

173. Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU/FDJ) 1:31.

174. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/DEN) 1:31.

175. Jaco Venter (RSA/DDT) 1:31.

176. Olivier Le Gac (FRA/FDJ) 1:46.

177. Tony Gallopin (FRA/LOT) 2:49.

178. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 0:00.

179. Laurent Pichon (FRA/FVC) 5:12.

180. Dylan van Baarle (NED/CAN) 5:47.

181. Michael Schar (SUI/BMC) 5:47.

182. Javier Moreno (ESP/BAH) 5:47.

183. Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (KAZ/AST) 5:47.

184. Cyril Lemoine (FRA/COF) 9:46.

185. Maurits Lammertink (NED/KAT) 9:46.

186. Marco Haller (AUT/KAT) 9:46.

187. Tony Martin (GER/KAT) 9:46.

188. Andrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 9:46.

189. Matteo Bono (ITA/EAU) 9:46.

190. Axel Domont (FRA/ALM) 9:46.

191. Dimitri Claeys (BEL/COF) 9:49.

192. Mickal Delage (FRA/FDJ) 9:53.

193. Luke Rowe (GBR/SKY) 13:55.

194. Reto Hollenstein (SUI/KAT) 15:26.

195. Tom Leezer (NED/LNL) 15:26.

. Luke Durbridge (AUS/ORI) Retired