Intro：

German sprinter Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) won the opening stage of the 2015 Tour of Poland on Sunday (August 2nd), his first race since missing out on selection for the Tour de France after suffering a protracted illness and losing race fitness.

Script：

After missing out on selection for this year's tour de France, Marcel Kittel went into the Tour of Poland with a point to prove.

But there was no sign of a lack of fitness in the German, who looked sharp despite having suffered from a lingering illness throughout the season.

The relatively short and flat opening stage around Warsaw ended up in a bunch sprint after the day's escape group was caught, which suited Kittel's sprinting prowess.

He took victory ahead of Australian Caleb Ewan in second and Italian Niccolo Bonifazio in third, for his first win since January.

Thanks to his time bonus, Kittel now leads the race by six seconds over Ewan and 10 seconds over Bonifazio.

The WorldTour-level Tour of Poland features six road stages and a final individual time trial.

The race continues on Monday with the 91 mile second stage from Czestochowa to Dabrowa Gornicza, where Kittel will be hoping for another bunch sprint.