Marcel Kittel angry after being punched by Andriy Grivko during Dubai Tour stage

Marcel Kittel launched a stinging attack on Andriy Grivko after being punched by the Astana rider during stage three of the Dubai Tour.

Kittel could be seen with a bloodied face during the stage, which had started with him looking for a third successive victory.

Grivko apologised after the stage, and was disqualified by race organisers, but that was not enough for Kittel.

He wrote on Twitter moments after the stage finish: "I won't accept an apology for this. That has nothing to do with cycling. What Grivko did is a shame for our beautiful sport."

Kittel later spoke to his team's website and explained what had happened.

"When we passed a construction site, the sand began blowing and as soon as we went into the crosswinds we were fighting for position, which is always stressful, and Andriy Grivko punched me," Kittel said.

"I really can't understand how he can do something like that.

"I get that riding in the crosswinds is always tense, but it gives him no right to act like that.

He could have hurt my eye. It's a real shame what happened. In the finale, my mind wasn't 100 per cent on the sprint, but I am happy I have no big injuries and I kept the lead."

The Quick-Step Floors sprinter finished outside the top 10 as victory went to another German sprinter, John Degenkolb of Trek-Segafredo.

Kittel finished 11th and leads the overall standings by eight seconds with two more stages remaining.