A sprint finish saw Germany’s Marcel Kittel win the second stage of the Tour de France on Sunday.

Britain’s Chris Froome, the defending champion, crashed 30km from the end, but he got back on his bike and didn’t lose any time on his rivals.

Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who had suffered a bout of glandular fever, was ‘happy’ to finish fourth, while countryman Geraint Thomas retained the yellow jersey.

‘I’m super happy I got this victory,’ said Kittel, who is now third in the general classification thanks to the 10-second time bonus for winning the stage.

‘It was an incredible start in Germany and it would be wrong to say I had no expectation or pressure. I wanted this win and it was a big goal to start in Germany and win the stage.’

Stage two results:

1. Marcel Kittel (Ger/Quick-Step Floors) 4hrs 37mins 06secs
2. Arnaud Demare (Fra/FDJ) same time
3. Andre Greipel (Ger/Lotto-Soudal)
4. Mark Cavendish (GB/Dimension Data)
5. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/Team Lotto NL-Jumbo)
6. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain)
7. Ben Swift (GB/UAE Team Emirates)
8. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Cofidis)
9. Michael Matthews (Aus/Sunweb)
10. Peter Sagan (Svk/BORA)

General classification:

1. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) 4hrs 53mins 10secs
2. Stefan Kung (Swi/BMC Racing) +5secs
3. Marcel Kittel (Ger/Quick-Step) +6secs
4. Vasil Kiryienka (Blr/Team Sky) +7secs
5. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Quick-Step) +10secs
6. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +12secs
7. Jos van Emden (Ned/LottoNL) +15secs
8. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Team Sky) Same time
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Dimension Data) +16secs
10. Nikias Arndt (Ger/Sunweb) Same time

Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images