Yoann Offredo (Wanty Groupe-Gobert) and Elie Gesbert (Fortuneo-Oscaro) bought their tickets for the breakaway, but the lead they established fairly quickly was soon eaten into by the peloton.

Gesbert led the way over the two climbs, while Offredo took maximum points at the intermediate sprint, two-and-a-half minutes ahead of the peloton.

Greipel won the kick from the peloton, meanwhile, with he and green jersey Kittel proving too strong for Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida).

The action, otherwise, was as expected on the largely flat stage, with QuickStep Floors happy to ride on the front again – largely relieving Team Sky of chasing duties.

When the two escapees were swallowed up, however, there were no clear leaders on the front, with several teams involved – both for their GC leaders and sprinters.

Lotto-Soudal looked to have taken up a good position for Andre Greipel, while Katusha-Alpecin were involved with Alexander Kristoff as they rounded the final two bends.

Froome, meanwhile, was safely in the bunch to write his own little bit of history – the Team Sky man has now worn the yellow jersey as many times as Jacques Anquetil.

He joins Anquetil, Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx as the only other riders – with Lance Armstrong’s achievements stripped from the record books – with 50 or more yellow jerseys.

Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) was also safely in the bunch, retaining his lead in the youth classification.

Tour de France 2017: stage 11 – result

1) Marcel Kittel (GER) – QuickStep Floors – 4.01.00hrs
2) John Degenkolb (GER) – Trek-Segafredo – ST
3) Dylan Groenewegen (NED) – LottoNL-Jumbo
4) Rudiger Selig (GER) – Bora-hansgrohe
5) Alexander Kristoff (NOR) – Katusha-Alpecin
6) Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) – Cofidis
7) Dan McLay (GBR) – Fortuneo-Oscaro
8) Pieter Vanspeybrouck (BEL) – Wanty-Groupe Gobert
9) Sonny Colbrelli (ITA) – Bahrain-Merida
10) Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) – Dimension Data

General classification

1) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky – 42.27.28hrs
2) Fabio Aru (ITA) – Astana +18″
3) Romain Bardet (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +51″
4) Rigoberto Uran (COL) – Cannondale-Drapac +55″
5) Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) – Astana +1.37
6) Daniel Martin (IRL) – QuickStep Floors +1.44
7) Simon Yates (GBR) – Orica-Scott +2.02
8) Nairo Quintana (COL) – Movistar +2.13
9) Mikel Landa (ESP) – Team Sky +3.06
10) George Bennett (NZL) – LottoNL-Jumbo +3.53