Marcel Kittel sprints to win Tour de France stage two

Marcel Kittel claimed victory in a bunch sprint at the end of a dramatic stage two of the Tour de France in Liege.

Quick-Step Floors sprinter Kittel came out on top in tricky conditions in the Belgian city after a day that had seen race favourite Chris Froome hit the deck in a crash that also took out most of Team Sky and race leader Geraint Thomas.

Froome had nowhere to go when one of the Katusha riders fell in front of him around 30km from the finish, wet conditions contributing as numerous riders at the front of the chasing bunch either came down or were held up.

Thomas was also stopped while Froome had to chase back in to the peloton twice as he changed bikes, but they both finished in the group which means the Welshman retains his lead by five seconds.

Froome said afterwards he was unscathed barring the loss of a little bit of skin from his backside.

The peloton did ease up for a spell after the spill, allowing leaders Taylor Phinney (Cannondale-Drapac) and Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) to extend their advantage to nearly a minute with 10km remaining. They had been out front since the start flag dropped in Dusseldorf along with Thomas Boudat and Laurent Pichon.

But the sprint trains were back up to speed quickly and Phinney and Offredo were eventually reeled in with just over a kilometre to go and the finish line almost in sight.

The bunch sprint which ensued saw Kittel edge to the line just in front of French champion Arnaud Demare (FDJ) with another German sprinter - Andre Greipel - taking third.

There was also an impressive ride from Mark Cavendish, who finished fourth as he continues to battle back to full fitness from a bout of glandular fever.

Cavendish is chasing his 31st stage win at the Tour and said before the race, one he only just made, that his form would improve as the three week race continues.

Kittel's reward for stage victory is spending Monday in the green jersey as points leader, while his bonus seconds mean he moves into third place overall, six seconds behind Thomas with Stefan Kung (BMC) remaining in second.

Stage 2 result:

1 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 4hr 37min 06sec
2 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ all same time
3 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
4 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Dimension Data
5 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Lotto NL-Jumbo

Overall standings:

1 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Team Sky 4hr 53min 10sec
2 Stefan Kung (Swi) BMC Racing +5s
3 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Quick-Step Floors +6s
4 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky +7s
5 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors +10s