LIMOGES (France) • For the second day in a row, a photo finish decided the winner at the Tour de France, with Marcel Kittel coming up trumps in the longest ride at the 237.5km Stage 4 from Saumur to Limoges yesterday.
The burly German held off a charging Bryan Coquard to win by barely a centimetre, 24 hours after Mark Cavendish pipped Andre Greipel by no more than 2.5cm.
"I've seen the photo finish, it could have been different; there was really only a hair in it," said Kittel, who finished in 5hr 28min 30sec. "At 150m from the end, I thought my veins would burst!
"I'm 1.90m tall, I have long arms and I think that made the difference in the end!"
Peter Sagan finished third to take a time bonus on the line and extend his overall lead over Julian Alaphilippe to 12 seconds, with Spain's Alejandro Valverde third at 14sec.
Tour favourite Chris Froome of Team Sky is fifth overall, 18sec behind.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE