One day after his big sprint win in Liverpool, the British climbs got a bit too tough for Marcel Kittel. The German was dropped on the final small hill and conceded the leader's jersey.

Marcel Kittel slipped off the back of the peloton on the final climb of the second stage of the Tour of Britain, relinquishing his race lead that he took after yesterday’s opening stage win.

The 200km stage from Knowsley to Llandudno was a steady one until the final kilometres where the road ramped up putting many riders in difficulty including Kittel . Around 60 riders regrouped on the run-in to sprint out the finish with Mark Renshaw (OPQS) coming through fastest to the line and taking over the race lead.

Kittel rolled out for the start of the second stage wearing the yellow jersey of race leader, but he was realistic about his chances on the tough finishing climb and the team’s actions reflected this as they controlled but didn’t put all their efforts into bringing the breakaway back on the stage.

Early in the stage 25 riders pulled clear and in this group the team had Albert Timmer and Tom Stamsnijder but their advantage ended after 50km of racing. Six riders then pulled clear to eek out a four minute advantage at best, and to fight out the KOM and sprint points along the route. Behind, the team controlled early on but then passed over the chasing duties to the teams that were focused on bringing the break back before the finish.

The break broke up in the final ten kilometres and finally came back into the fold with around six kilometres to go on the final climb. Over the top of this a small group broke clear containing Timmer again but this was caught by the what was left of the peloton on the descent to the line and a bunch sprint unfurled with Renshaw fastest to the line.

Team coach Marc Reef said: “Early in the stage a large group pulled clear and we had Albert and Stammie there which was a good position, but IAM closed the gap after which the main break went away. The whole day was up and down and we started to chase behind these guys until the feeding zone.

“The guys put Marcel into a good position at the foot of the final climb but he dropped off the pace before the top. Albert was riding strong and was up there in the front group over the top but got caught before the finish by the group behind that also contained Tom Veelers.

“It’s a hard race to defend with just six guys and tomorrow the pressure is off again.”

Timmer added: “It was a hard start and a big fight to get in the break. This resulted in a large group forming with me and Stammie there. but we were brought back after 50km.

“In the final it was hectic again and I jumped just before the top of the last hill with the lead group but we got brought back on the descent. It was still quite a big group for the sprint at the end but neither Tom or I were able to sprint anymore.”