The intermediate sprint gave a first opportunity to see the lay of the land with regard the sprinters’ green jersey ambitions and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) led the peloton through.

With the rain returning, the peloton always appeared wary – with standing water leading to a very cautious pace.

Kittel’s emotion at his tenth Tour stage win showed after the finish, crying afterwards and admitting: “It would be wrong to say I had no expectation or no pressure – it all comes out now. It was, for me, a big hope to start in Germany and win at the end of that stage.

“If we are honest and look through the plan, it didn’t work at all. I was just jumping from wheel to wheel, jumping through small gaps, and in the end was able to get right to the front. I am super relieved.”

Kittel is now just six seconds behind Thomas overall, thanks to bonus seconds, but it will be Thomas as the race crosses into France for the first time on stage three.

Tour de France 2017: stage two – report

1) Marcel Kittel (GER) – QuickStep Floors – 4.37.06hrs
2) Arnaud Demare (FRA) – FDJ – ST
3) Andre Greipel (GER) – Lotto-Soudal
4) Mark Cavendish (GBR) – Dimension Data
5) Dylan Groenewegen (NED) – LottoNL-Jumbo
6) Sonny Colbrelli (ITA) – Bahrain-Merida
7) Ben Swift (GBR) – UAE Team Emirates
8) Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) – Cofidis
9) Michael Matthews (AUS) – Team Sunweb
10) Peter Sagan (SVK) – Bora-hansgrohe

General classification

1) Geraint Thomas (GBR) – Team Sky – 4.53.10hrs
2) Stefan Kung (SUI) – BMC Racing +5”
3) Marcel Kittel (GER) – QuickStep Floors +6”
4) Vasil Kiryienka (BLR) – Team Sky +7”
5) Matteo Trentin (ITA) – QuickStep Floors +10”
6) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky +12”
7) Jos van Emden (NED) – LottoNL-Jumbo +15”
8) Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) – Team Sky – ST
9) Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) – Dimension Data +16”
10) Nikias Arndt (GER) – Team Sunweb – ST