Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) in the internal battle between the sprinters when he became the first to take his second stage win at this year's Tour de France. As his first one was taken in a less competitive sprint due to a big crash that took most of his rivals fall out of contention, he described the second one as even better than his maiden win.

For a couple of years, Marcel Kittel has proved that he is fully capable of beating Andre Greipel and Mark Cavendish in a head-to-head battle but so far he has not had the chance to show that on the biggest scene: the Tour de France. Last year stomach problems forced him to abandon even before he had contested a single sprint and when he won stage 1 this year, Cavendish and Greipel had both been left behind due to a crash.

Today the entire world got to see that Kittel is maybe the sprinter with the highest top speed of them all when he came out triumphant. He avoided a crash that brought down his lead-out man Tom Veelers and produced an immense power that saw him catch Greipel who had gone clear by virtue of the clash.

The first win was a special one as it allowed him to take over the yellow jersey but today's win was even sweeter as all the big sprinters had been present.

“You could say that it is more satisfying today because all the big sprinters were there at the finish," he said. "I'm really proud that we won today and that everyone was there for the finale and that I could beat even [André] Greipel in close race to the line. I have to say a big thank you to my team-mates they did an amazing job and it's just a pity that Tom [Veelers] crashed so bad in the last 100 metres. I really hope that he's okay and that we can concentrate on the next stages."

“This is a big result for me, for the whole team," he added. "It's great that we showed – in a sprint of one-against-one – that I can beat him and I'm very proud of it.”

Veelers crash had been caused by Cavendish who bumped into the Dutchman just as he started his sprint. Having seen the video footage, he refused to blame the Manxman who finished the stage in 3rd.

“Apparently [Mark] Cavendish bumped into Tom and he lost control of his handlebars and crashed... I cannot imagine that Cavendish did that on purpose, it just happens sometimes in a hectic final," he said. "Every sprinter wants to come to the front when he comes to the line and I hope that he's okay."

“You can see that Cavendish really bumped into the handlebar of Tom but it doesn't look like he does it on purpose. Tom swings off to the right and Cavendish to the left – and it's just very unlucky at that moment."

Due to the crash, Kittel had been far behind Greipel when he started his sprint but amazingly he managed to catch his fast compatriot just before the line.

“You can see it... Tom Veelers crashed and at that moment I had a bit of a gap to André Greipel; when I started my sprint, I could use his slipstream to get up to his wheel and then to pass him just before the line. It was very close," he said.

Argos-Shimano had been very prominent in the final part of the race and the Dutch train had gone head-to-head with the world-famous Lotto-Belisol formation. That work brought Kittel into a perfect position and coach Rudi Kemna revealed that the team had carefully prepared today's sprint during yesterday's rest day.

“It’s fantastic to see how strong teamwork led to the win by Marcel," he said. "We had some problems in the last meters with Tom’s crash, but the preparation before that went perfectly to plan, and seeing how relaxed and focused Marcel stayed shows how good and experienced he is."

“Last week we saw already that the train was working quite well, but there were still some points to improve. So during the rest day we sat down with all the team’s experts and the riders to analyze the sprint to see what exactly we needed to improve. We changed the positions of John Degenkolb and Koen de Kort, and we were very careful to get the timing optimized with this change. This, together with the final adjustments and the fact that we have a balanced team where every rider is developed in his own specialty, has made today’s success possible. Again, it’s a great reward after many years of work and belief in our way of working."

During his years as a U23 rider, Kittel was mostly known as a time trial specialist. It was not until he joined his current team that he realized his sprinting potential.

General manager Iwan Spekenbrink sees today's win as a testament to the team's success at developing young riders.

“To win the first stage was already amazing, but taking a second stage victory is incredible," he said. "I am really proud of this win, but even prouder of the way we achieved it. This is a reward after hard teamwork, not only with the riders but also the coaches, experts and staff. It has been great to see Marcel develop through the years, with the guidance of our experts and coaches. After tests and training, our coaches discovered his sprinting talent and decided to give him the opportunity to develop as a sprinter. Step-by-step he became better, and it didn’t take long until he won his first race. This is Marcel’s story, but with all the riders of Team Argos-Shimano we have gone through this process and developed them in their specialty, which makes our train so strong."

Kittel will take it easy in tomorrow's time trial while he prepares for Thursday's and Friday's stages that both appear to suit the sprinters. Starting at 10.00, you can follow the time trial in its entirety on CyclingQuotes.com/live.