How Kittel could take pink

APELDOORN, Netherlands (VN) — Marcel Kittel is two good sprints away from the maglia rosa.

If Kittel’s form is good, his fifth-place ride in Friday’s 9.8km time trial sets him up to take pink before the Giro d’Italia returns to Italy. The German sprinter is currently 11 seconds behind Tom Dumoulin, with a maximum of 32 bonus seconds available over the next two stages. The math is very much in Kittel’s favor.

The pink jersey isn’t Kittel’s primary motivation, but his goal of taking stage wins could result in the race lead by default. No other sprinter is close enough to take the lead before the race leaves the Netherlands.

“Taking the pink jersey isn’t my priority, my focus is only on the flat stages and the sprints,” Kittel said, indicating that he may not contest the intermediate sprint points. “I will be happy if today’s result will help me don the maglia rosa, but I’m not going to put extra pressure on my team for this”

Each finish features a bonus of 10, 6, and 4 seconds for first through third place. Each stage also features two …

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