Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) got the win he was aiming for at the Giro d'Italia, taking the expected bunch sprint at the end of stage two in Nijmegen. He took a commanding victory, dominating the rush to the finish line, with a sprint that appeared almost uncontested by runner-up Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida).
“I’m super happy," Kittel said at the finish line. "Yesterday in the time trial I showed that I was in good shape. This was a tricky finale today but a finale where I said I’d stay with my teammates. They did a good job to put me in a good place for the sprint and I did the rest. There was a great atmosphere today, it was a great day.
Dumoulin relied on his Giant-Alpecin teammates to bring him through the stage safely to the finish line. He remains in the overall lead with the same time as Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), but lost time to Kittel, who picked up a 10-second time bonus and moved into third place, only one second behind.
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The race for the stage victory truly started at the beginning of the final circuit with 8.6km remaining, as the field passed under the finish line banner surrounded by crowds of screaming fans, beating pink flags against the finish line, roadside barriers. Cannondale took the right side of the road while LottoNL-Jumbo owned the left, and Movistar, Giant-Alpecin and then Team Sky took the centre lines side-by-side.
The speed was high but the sprinter's team played a waiting game. Then in the final 2km, Cannondale and FDJ found their way into the best positions on the front but noticeably missing were Kittel’s Etixx-QuickStep team.
However Kittel timed his move toward the front perfectly, edging to the fore with 1.5km to go, along with Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge), Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal), and Elia Vivani (Team Sky) all on the wheels.
Stage 2 Video Highlights
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