Marcel Kittel closed to within one second of the race lead after winning in Nijmegen ©ANSA - PERI / DI MEO / ZENNARO

Germany’s Marcel Kittel dominated the first sprint of the 2016 Giro d'Italia to claim stage two victory and move to within one second of the early race lead.

Kittel had established himself as the sprinter to beat at Grand Tours during the 2013 and 2014 International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour seasons, but endured a disastrous 2015.

A winter move to the Etixx - Quick Step team appears to have reignited the German, who displayed impressive form in yesterday’s time trial to lie 11 seconds adrift of the race leader Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands.

The flat nature of the 190 kilometre route from Arnhem to Nijmegen meant that the stage was always likely to end in a sprint finish, although Spain’s Omar Fraile, Italy’s Giacomo Berlato and The Netherlands’ Maarten Tjallingii attempted to defy the odds with an early move.

Berlato proved the most resistant to the peloton in the closing kilometres of the race, as he attempted to go solo to the finish, after his two breakaway compatriots slipped back to the main field.

With eight kilometres to race the Italian was eventually reeled in, making the sprint an inevitability, with the Etixx - Quick Step team moving to the front in an effort to lead out Kittel.

Their efforts worked to perfection as the German rider powered clear of his rivals to claim victory in a time of four hours, 38min and 31sec.

France’s Arnaud Demare settled for second place ahead of Italy’s Sacha Modolo, with the duo finishing on the same time as the stage winner.

The peloton tackled the second of three stages of the race in The Netherlands
The peloton tackled the second of three stages of the race in The Netherlands ©Getty Images

"Firstly I want to say chapeau to the people of the Netherlands for the great atmosphere on the road today,” Kittel said afterwards, with the race on Dutch soil.

“I’m super happy to win the first bunch sprint of the Giro, yesterday, the time trial was a good sign of my form.

“Today my team did a very good job to bring me to the front, it was a tricky finale and I’m very happy with how it went.”

The victory earned Kittel 10 bonus seconds, which saw him rise to third in the overall standings behind race leader Dumoulin and Slovenia’s Primož Roglic.

Kittel could take the Maglia Rosa from Dumoulin tomorrow, should he repeat his sprint victory at the end of the 189km route from Nijmegen to Arnhem.