(1) The stage winner, Marcel Kittel of Germany, said: "It was incredible, like being in a tunnel, the crowd were so loud."
(2) I’m beginning to appreciate it’s actually been a bit miraculous getting back to any form of racing so quickly.” Kittel, on the other hand, completed the Tour with four stage wins, but has been busy with non-racing commitments since then, although he recently finished eighth on home soil in the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg.
(3) The sprints aren’t usually very controlled, normally it’s hard to keep a grip and ensure a clean lead-out, but this year the big difference will be having Cavendish and Kittel there, which means their teams will have to keep the race together,” says Ben Swift.
(4) Five to look out for Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky, Age 34 Last year’s winner and the favourite for the short last-day time trial in London, so rivals need an advantage before then Leopold Konig, NetApp-Endura, 26 Seventh on debut in the Tour de France, the Czech won Caerphilly’s hilly stage in 2012 and may be the strongest climber Sylvain Chavanel, IAM Cycling, 35 The near-veteran Frenchman is in top form, winner in recent weeks of the GP Plouay one-day race and the Tour du Poitou Charentes Mark Cavendish, Omega Pharma-QS 29 On the comeback trail after separating a shoulder in his catastrophic crash in the opening stage of the Tour de France Marcel Kittel, Giant-Shimano, 26 Dominant on the flat at the Tour de France this year and last, the German is the strongest fastman in the race on paper with Cavendish recovering
(5) Sagan Updated at 8.38pm BST 8.35pm BST Kittel wins the final stage!
(6) Confusion reigns when Orica GreenEdge's team bus gets stuck under a gantry and the finish is initially brought forward by 3km, only to be moved back Winner Marcel Kittel 2 Alexander Kristoff 41 Chris Froome all same time Stage 2 Sun 30 June Bastia to Ajaccio 156km RadioShack-Leopard's Jan Bakelants claims the second stage ahead of Peter Sagan.
(7) Sprinting alone in a seemingly futile bid to get past Kittel in the closing metres, Cavendish appeared to lose control of his back wheel on a cobble in what always seemed a losing battle.
(8) These are the races I grew up dreaming of, but at the moment we [OMP] have so many guys who can win them that it doesn’t make sense for me to go in out of desire, unless I can go and do a job.” Next year, the battle in the sprints in the major Tours could be enthralling, with Cavendish seemingly rejuvenated, and the star of this year’s Tour, Marcel Kittel, likely to improve.
(9) Stage 1 Sat 29 June Porto-Vecchio to Bastia 213km Marcel Kittel wins the opener in Corsica after Mark Cavendish is denied a first yellow jersey by a crash near the finish.
(10) 8.01pm BST The team's of Cavendish and Kittel are leading the chase but they are not exactly going full gun yet, clearly believing that Millar will weaken - but there is no sign of that yet, as Millar continues to power ahead.
(11) Griepel, Sagan and Kittel are all well positioned: how late will Cav's crew leave it?
(12) 'Every time I cross the finish line there's a little sigh of relief,' he says Winner Marcel Kittel Overall 1 Chris Froome 2 Alejandro Valverde +3min 25sec Stage 13 Fri 12 July Tours to Saint-Amand-Montrond 173km Crosswinds play havoc with the peloton and split the race apart, causing Froome's first serious setback of the Tour as Bauke Mollema and Contador close the gap at the top to 1min 9sec.
(13) Cavendish cannot get going and Marcel Kittel snatches the stage win Winner Marcel Kittel Overall 1 Chris Froome 2 Nairo Quintana +4min 20sec
(14) The Manxman sits up as Veelers' Argos-Shimano team-mate Marcel Kittel takes another stage.
(15) De Backer had been expecting to ride for his team-mate Marcel Kittel here, but the German sprinter withdrew on stage one, robbing the race of the clear favourite for this stage.
(16) In Britain, there are always stages where the climbs may not look super-difficult, but they can put the pure sprinters in trouble,” said Swift, whose speciality is sprint finishes over a hilly course when the likes of Mark Cavendish or Marcel Kittel struggle.
(17) Not for the first time in this race the Omega Pharma-Quick Step sprinter's train derailed in spectacular fashion, its various carriages uncoupling either side of the flamme rouge signifying one kilometre to go and leaving Cavendish to improvise unsuccessfully on the run-in of a stage won by the Argos-Shimano sprinter Marcel Kittel.
(18) Winner Marcel Kittel Overall 1 Chris Froome 2 Alejandro Valverde +1min 25sec Stage 11 Wed 10 July Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel 33km Tony Martin wins the time trial to the iconic island commune but Froome extended his lead over the main GC contenders with a masterful ride.
(19) One of the great disappointments of this year’s Tour de France was the premature end to the long-anticipated battle between Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittel.
(20) Chris Froome comes home safely in the peloton while David Millar moves into second overall in a race where the pre-Tour favourites try to stay out of trouble Winner Jan Bakelants Overall 1 Jan Bakelants 2 Peter Sagan +1sec 18 Chris Froome +1sec Stage 3 Mon 1 July Ajaccio to Calvi 145.5km Simon Gerrans beats Sagan in a photo finish after a hilly third stage in Corsica's interior but the Slovakian grabs the green jersey from Kittel.
Kittle
Definition:
(v. i.) To bring forth young, as a cat; to kitten; to litter.
(v. t.) To tickle.
(a.) Ticklish; not easily managed; troublesome; difficult; variable.