Marcel Kittel said that going into yellow after winning the opening stage of the Tour De France was a dream come true.
Kittel has said on Thursday night that he was hoping to win and on the opening stage, he had his chance when a crash took down his main competitors in Mark Cavendish, Andrei Greipel and Peter Sagan.
Speaking to his team's press office, the German said: "Today is a dream come true. "We've been very eager to win a stage in this Tour de France. Starting in the winter, we prepared ourselves for this, and to win the first stage today and wear the yellow jersey tomorrow is just unbelievable.
"I am really proud of all my teammates, who did an amazing job today. They worked throughout the whole day to keep me in good position and to protect me. The finale was very hectic, but the guys stayed calm and they knew exactly what to do -- just like we trained for. They reorganized after the crash and took responsibility. We trained mentally and physically for this kind of situation and together with the knowledge we had of the course this helped us stay relaxed and we followed our plan.
"I am so happy that we achieved this victory for the team as well. They gave me the chance to become a professional cyclist and developed me into the sprinter that I am today. I couldn¹t hope for a better thank-you."
"This is just unbelievable! Winning the first stage in the Tour de France and taking the yellow jersey is amazing," said coach Rudi Kemna (NED). "We rode the race the way we wanted, and everything fell right into place."