Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) sprinted to victory on the opening stage of the Ster ZLM Toer in the south of Holland.
German sprinter moves into the overall lead
Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) sprinted to victory on the opening stage of the Ster ZLM Toer in the south of Holland.
The 24-year-old German edged out Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and world champion Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) at the end of the 151 kilometres route from Eindhoven to Sittard-Geleen.
Kittel's victory, his sixth of the campaign, earned him a 10 seconds bonus and put him into the overall race lead from Renshaw, with Rens te Stroet (Cyclingteam Jo Piels) in third after winning the day's two intermediate sprints.
Te Stroet was one of four riders - Jesper Schipper (Cyclingteam De Rijke), Jeffrey Wiersma (Metec Continental Cyclingteam) and Sven Vandousselaere (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) were the others - who broke clear of the bunch after 15km.
They were allowed to extend their advantage to a maximum of 6:30 before the sprinters' teams started to exert control on the front of the peloton.
Te Stroet was the first to be caught but the other three stayed clear just long enough to take the points on offer in the mountains classification before it all came back together for the final 15km.
On the finishing circuit it was first Argos-Shimano and then Rabobank and Team Sky who were at the head of affairs as they teed up the bunch sprint which ultimately saw Kittel emerge triumphant.
Renshaw chased him home while Cavendish, who was returning to action for the first time since the Giro as he ramps up his Tour de France preparations, rounded off the podium places.
Friday's second stage is a more testing affair, covering 167km around Nuth (Schimmert).
