Who is the best pure sprinter in the 2013 Tour?

You would think the simple answer to that question is Mark Cavendish given his years of success in the bunch gallop and given that he's the man everyone looks for when the finish draws near and everyone's altogether, but that might only have been the answer before the Tour began as Cavendish hasn't quite been himself so far this year. Peter Sagan might be leading the Green jersey points competition, but let's face it, he's picking up points on stages the pure sprinters have no chance on and as a result is walking away with it. To me the points competition rewards the most consistent rider rather than the best sprinter. No, as things stand Marcel Kittel is the best sprinter at the 2013 Tour and here is why...



There's no official competition for this so I've devised it myself. I've awarded points on the finishing line of flat sprint stages only of six for first, four for second, two for third. There's been four stages (one, five, six and ten) that have finished in bunch sprints and so those are the ones I've limited the points to. I understand stages two and three in Corsica were large group sprints, but the pure sprinters were tailed off and this is an unofficial measure as to who really is the top pure sprinter in the tour.

Marcel Kittel
Stage 1: 1st -- 6 pts
Stage 5: 187th -- 0 pts
Stage 6: 3rd -- 2 pts
Stage 10: 1st -- 6 pts

TOTAL: 14 pts

André Greipel
Stage 1: 181st -- 0 pts
Stage 5: 4th -- 0 pts
Stage 6: 1st -- 6 pts
Stage 10: 2nd -- 4 pts

TOTAL: 10 pts

Mark Cavendish
Stage 1: 58th -- 0 pts
Stage 5: 1st -- 6 pts
Stage 6: 4th -- 0 pts
Stage 10: 3rd -- 2 pts

TOTAL: 8 pts

Peter Sagan
Stage 1: 154th -- 0 pts
Stage 5: 3rd -- 2 pts
Stage 6: 2nd -- 4 pts
Stage 10: 4th -- 0 pts

TOTAL: 6 pts

On stage one all of Greipel, Cavendish and Sagan failed to get into the sprint due to a crash near the end and a mechanical for Greipel but that was equaled out when Kittel failed to get near the sprint on stage five. Stages six and ten seen all four make up the first four places with Geipel and Kittel splitting the wins. So far Kittel has two stage wins to his name with the other three on one a piece (Sagan's came on a hilly stage) and also the most points from this pure sprinters contest.

By my reckoning, there's four more flat stages to go in which the sprinters have a chance at this fictional competition. Those are the next three stages -- 12, 13 and 14 -- and then into Paris on stage 21. It's all to play for!