Marcel Kittel

Kittel started the 2019 season strongly, winning the Trofeo Palma, part of the Challenge Mallorca, and taking second place at the Clásica de Almería. He pulled out of the Tour of California and the Tour de Yorkshire before the races started, citing health issues. On 9 May 2019, his contract with Team Katusha–Alpecin was terminated. This was a mutual decision by the team management and Kittel, who opted to take time off from professional cycling because of fatigue.

Marcel Kittel announced his retirement from professional cycling on 23 August 2019.

For the third year in a row, he chose to start his season at the Dubai Tour, but was unable to win any stages. Kittel took two wins in the 2018 season, both of which came at Tirreno–Adriatico.

Kittel started the 2014 season early by winning the People's Choice Classic, followed by three consecutive stage wins at the Dubai Tour. On the third stage, he survived two short climbs near the end of the race and won the sprint of a greatly reduced group. In April he won the Scheldeprijs for the third time in a row, being the first person in history to achieve this. In the Giro d'Italia, Kittel won stages 2 and 3 before abandoning the race between stage 3 and 4. As he did in 2013, Kittel won the opening stage at the Tour de France and took the yellow jersey, but lost it to Vincenzo Nibali on stage 2. However, Kittel won both stages 3 and 4. He also won the final stage 21 on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, as he did in 2013. In September, Kittel won the opening stage of the Tour of Britain by outsprinting Nicola Ruffoni and Mark Cavendish. He also won the closing stage.

In 2013, Kittel's team Argos–Shimano was promoted to the first division of the sport and was granted World Tour status. Kittel won the first stage of the Tour of Oman in a sprint finish, his first success of the season. In the Tour de France, Kittel found success as a sprinter. He finished first in the Tour's first stage in Corsica and took the inaugural maillot jaune of the 100th Tour de France. He lost the yellow jersey the next day, however, to Jan Bakelants of RadioShack–Leopard. Kittel was not done in this Tour, though, he would go on to win the 10th and 12th stages. On the final stage, Kittel triumphed again on the Champs-Élysées, ending the four-year winning streak of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider Mark Cavendish. He would finish 4th in the Green Jersey points standings.

In October, it was announced that he had signed a two-year deal with Etixx–Quick-Step from 2016, after Team Giant–Alpecin released him from his contract a year early.

Kittel made his Tour de France debut in 2012 when he was selected as leader of his team, where he would compete for stage wins and the green jersey. However he withdrew an hour into stage 5, after suffering from a viral infection of the stomach and intestines from stage 2, the fourth retirement of the 2012 Tour. He bounced back in the beginning of August, when he won the first stage of the Eneco Tour, the first event in his return to racing. The only rider who was competitive with him in the final bunch sprint was Frenchman Arnaud Démare (FDJ–BigMat). After bad luck struck on stage 3, where he suffered a flat tyre with 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) to go, Kittel prevailed again on stage 4. He congratulated his teammates Tom Veelers and John Degenkolb for their work in the final kilometres, as they sheltered him from the wind before he propelled himself toward the finish line and the victory. At the end of 2012, as the cycling world was affected by the Lance Armstrong doping case revelations, Kittel took a vocal anti-doping stance by stating that he was "sick" of the people who still defended Armstrong in the cycling community.

Kittel made his professional debut in 2011 with the Dutch team Skil–Shimano. Known as a time trial specialist at the time, he won a bunch sprint during the Tour de Langkawi. After the success he decided to become a sprinter. He then won four out of five stages in the Four Days of Dunkirk, all in bunch sprints. Kittel won his first World Tour stage, winning the opening stage of the Tour de Pologne, a race where he also won three other stages. He also made his Grand Tour debut in the Vuelta a España, where he won the seventh stage beating Peter Sagan and Óscar Freire. He finished the season off by winning two stages at the Herald Sun Tour. Kittel became the second most winning rider in 2011 - winning 17 races and stages.

Marcel Kittel (born 11 May 1988) is a German former racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam Team Katusha–Alpecin. As a junior, he specialised in time trials, even winning a bronze medal in the World Championships for cyclists aged under 23. When he became a professional in 2011, he specialised in bunch sprints, where he usually needed a good leadout in order to win. He has won stages in each of the three Grand Tours.