In an interview with TOUR, the 37-year-old categorises the Tour de France so far, among other things. "It's crazy how the level has risen," says the former pro, who ended his career in 2019.
TOUR: Marcel Kittel, you used to wait in the team bus for the stage starts. Today you are an expert in the paddock, interviewing the pros. How does that feel?
Marcel Kittel: Mega! It's still like coming home for me. The Tour de France has shaped my career and I still enjoy it a lot. I meet everyone from the past, like here at Soudal Quick-Step - a great experience.
TOUR: Six stages are over: What is your first summary so far?
Marcel Kittel: We've only seen specialists at the front over the past few days. Sprinters, classification riders, time trialists or breakaways. My feeling at the Tour is that things are moving more and more in this direction. You have to be world class to be at the front. I just had a chat with a trainer from Soudal Quick-Step. He said that the values from yesterday (stage six, editor's note) were extreme. There's not a moment when it's quiet. You can also see that as a spectator. It's crazy how the level has risen.
TOUR: Does the A.S.O. as organiser make the race too selective, too demanding, too dangerous?
Marcel Kittel: Of course, there is always criticism and it is often justified. We saw crashes in the first few days that were not only caused by the riders, but also by the track. That's simply a fact. But for me it's more about the fact that the Tour is constantly evolving. Also through the sport, which is of course becoming more and more professional. Nutrition, riders, equipment: you have to keep adapting.
TOUR: It seems as if the riders are constantly riding at the limit. The best example was the sixth stage, where the peloton selected itself early on. Lifting your legs was not the order of the day.
Marcel Kittel: New dynamics are developing as a result of specialisation. Actually, there should have been a lull at some point yesterday. You thought that the sprinters would come back into the peloton. But today, the riders just kept going for 180 kilometres. That's a new quality that you can see in the evolution of cycling.
TOUR: Would you like to be a professional again today?
Marcel Kittel: I find the question difficult because it is extremely subjective. If I thought about having to do intervals in training and being on the road 350 days a year, I would say: "I don't want to do that because I have three children." But as a 23-year-old, I would have replied: "Great, let's do it." That's how I got into sport, was successful and stuck with it.
TOUR: We are standing in front of the Soudal Quick-Step team bus. What do you think Remco Evenepoel can do this year in the overall classification? Who will be at the top of the podium in Paris?
Marcel Kittel: It will be very difficult for Remco... (at this point Marcel Kittel had to end our conversation for a rider interview, editor's note).
Julian Schultz
Editor
