Marcel Kittel has said that his victory on the opening stage of the Tour Of Poland was a very important win for him.
Kittel won the sprint in Warsaw and speaking to his Giant Alpecin's team's press office, the German said: "We rode the final corner in the neutral and at first I thought it was going to be difficult but after we passed through it a few times during the race I got a better feeling.
It was a tricky final so it was necessary to be in front with the whole team and we managed this in a good way. The boys were fighting hard for me and brought me into a good position, and although it wasn't easy to stay together we didn't lose faith.
"It's a very important win for me and it's too long since I last had this feeling. I had to fight back and I am happy that I never gave up and can now be racing for victory again. It's a race I've been looking forward to, and with two more days of possible sprints we can look forward to racing hard."