Marcel Kittel won his second consecutive stage at the Giro d’Italia and in just as convincing fashion as he took the first. Set up perfectly by his Etixx-Quick Step teammates coming into Arnhem, Kittel opened up his sprint from 200 metres out, almost instantly getting a huge gap on the sprinters lined up in his wake. He was several bike lengths clear of Sky’s Elia Viviani and already celebrating as he crossed the line, with Trek-Segafredo’s Giacomo Nizzolo in third.
The 10 bonus seconds Kittel earned for his stage win put him into the race leader’s maglia rosa, making him the first German since Olaf Pollack in 2006 to lead the Giro. Kittel now heads Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) by nine seconds, with Movistar’s Andrey Amador in third at 15 seconds after LottoNL-Jumbo’s Primoz Roglic slipped down the standings.
For a time, it seemed that Kittel might be thwarted by an heroic solo effort on the part of Dimension Data’s Johann Van Zyl. One of a quartet of riders who broke away at the very start of the stage, Van Zyl hit out on his own with 12 kilometres remaining. His lead at that point was the best part of a minute and it took a concerted effort by Etixx to reel him in with just 1.7km to the line.
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Having done most of the hard work in chasing down Van Zyl, Etixx suddenly found themselves with plenty of company at the front of the bunch. However, they kept Kittel exactly where he needed to be. Leadout man Fabio Sabatini set a scorching pace from 600 metres out, and when the Italian started to fade Kittel made his move.
"I’m super happy with this victory, which is my fourth stage win at the Giro, and I’ve also got leader’s jersey as well. I’m very happy to be able to say that I’ve worn the yellow jersey at the Tour de France and now the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia, which is something quite unique," said Kittel.
"It was a super tough day, with lots of wind, which made it difficult to stay in position. The breakaway also got a big gap. But the boys did an amazing job of keeping me out of trouble and then getting Matteo Trentin, Fabio Sabatini and me into position for the sprint. Matteo and Fabio also did an amazing job, and that made it easier for me."
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