Rockets continue Giro without Kittel as sprint coach supports from his ‘Sprint Control Room’

Kittel announced the move on social media, with the fourteen-time Tour de France stage winner explaining that the departure had been agreed within the team well in advance.

"I am currently in my Sprint Control Room," Kittel said. "We decided a while ago that I would leave the Giro d'Italia on the second rest day. The sprint train is up and running. The guys know what to do and I can still do my preparation work from home as a sprint coach. The sporting side is in very good hands with the other team managers who are still in Italy, so I am convinced that the boys will continue to build on what we started together."

The German joined Unibet Rose Rockets' performance staff in November 2025, brought in specifically to work on the team's sprint operation around Groenewegen. 

He has been one of the more visible figures on the road at the team in the opening fortnight, with his work on the lead-out evident across the Bulgarian sprint days and the chaotic finale in Naples on stage 6. The German has been responsible for the team's stage-day briefings, which on Kittel's account stretch to 30 pages of detail on the final kilometres, identifying the precise corners and roundabouts at which the team need to be in front.

Speaking on the Domestique Hotseat podcast on the second rest day, Kittel had been emphatic that the Naples crash was not the team's fault.

"It's that 0.5 per cent range that you have in a final like this. One little movement with your ass on your saddle might cause already that little slippery reaction. We took the risk to win, which I think is always what we have to do. I think we have made no mistake on that day."

Kittel admitted on Thursday that the timing of the return home, planned around his family commitments, had left him feeling slightly conflicted.

"I left my other family members behind in Italy. Together with all the Rocketeers, we worked on our Giro mission. We came so close. Will that sprint victory still come? Today could be another chance, and after that, more sprint opportunities are expected in Milan and Rome. I will be cheering at home and shouting so loud that they will hear me all the way in Italy."

The German has been the right kind of recruitment for the Rockets, his fourteen Tour de France stages and four Giro stage wins across the 2010s making him one of the most successful sprinters of his generation. His approach as a coach has translated his racing experience into a detailed, data-driven methodology, with the focus on the basics for every stage, a clear goal, a clear plan, clear roles for each rider in the lead-out, as Kittel laid out on the Hotseat podcast.

"We have for every day a very clear goal. With that goal we get a very clear plan and we have very clear roles. The alignment is really important. Then we dive into the details. The briefings are like 30 pages long with all the details of the final."

Friday's stage 13 from Alessandria to Verbania, with its late punchy climb to Ungiasca, is unlikely to suit Groenewegen, but stages 15 (Voghera-Milan) and 21 (Rome circuit) are both nailed-on sprint days where the Dutchman will have his clearest remaining opportunities. Kittel said in his video message that he would be back in Italy for the final stage in Rome.