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I had to get that out of the way at the start, because, like me, several of you might have forgotten that tiny little fact after last season, when a combination of illness, bad luck, lack of support and understandably poor form meant that he won just two sprints all year.
He's already matched that in this year's Giro inside the first three stages. The opening stage in Apeldoorn was a time trial, won by Tom Dumoulin (TGA) by just one hundredth of a second from Primoz Roglic (TLJ), with Fabian Cancellara a disappointing 14 seconds down on the Dutchman's time.
More significant with regards to the pink jersey was that Kittel (EQS) posted a very impressive 11 minutes and 14 seconds, just 11 off the lead and putting him well within striking distance of the maglia rosa with two sprint stages to follow.
And so it came to be. Stage 2 looked set for an intriguing finish, with the FDJ squad placed very prominently in the run in to Nijmegen. Round the final sweeping right hander, Arnaud Demare looked set for a perfect leadout from his French squad, while Kittel lost the wheel of his lead out man, instead being forced to follow Demare.
But with 150m to go, Kittel launched his final sprint, bursting clear by several bike lengths almost instantly. I described him as seemingly having pressed a 'win' button, and had he not celebrated a long way before the line I honestly believe he could have created a time gap to Demare, which could have put him in the maglia rosa on day 3. As it was, Kittel would wear the red sprinters' jersey instead.
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The next stage was just as much a formality as Stage 2 was. Tellingly, again Kittel did not have the wheel of his leadout man Fabio Sabatini, and was tracked by Giacomo Nizzolo (TFS) and Elia Viviani (SKY), but still, once his massive legs started pumping there was never any doubt. He opened up a lead of two bike lengths almost immediately, again having plenty of time to celebrate before crossing the line.
The two stage wins, and accompanying bonus seconds, meant that his 11 second deficit to Dumoulin after the time trial became a nine second lead in the GC standings, meaning the big German wears the maglia rosa tomorrow after today's rest day. Whether he can keep it over the next couple of days will be an interesting question, with a few nasty climbs tomorrow and a rolling stage 5, and Kittel's priorities between holding the pink jersey and staying fresh for the red will be tested.
But as far as those future sprint stages go, there is one thing that must genuinely worry the rest of the spinters. Kittel has won both sprints so far convincingly without a perfect leadout. If he gets one in the next few weeks, time gaps may be a distinct possibility.
General Classification
1. Marcel Kittel (EQS) 9:13:10
2. Tom Dumoulin (TGA) + :09
3. Andrey Amador (MOV) + :15
4. Tobias Ludvigsson (TGA) + :17
5. Moreno Moser (CPT) + :21
6. Bob Jungels (EQS) + :22
7. Matthias Brandle (IAM) + :23
8. Roger Kluge (IAM) + :25
9. Chad Haga (TGA) + :25
10. Georg Priedler (TGA) + :26
Sprint Classification
1. Marcel Kittel (EQS) 106
2. Maarten Tjallingii (TLJ) 80
3. Elia Viviani (SKY) 49
Mountains Classification
1. Maarten Tjallingii (TLJ) 5
2. Omar Fraile (DDD) 3
3. Julen Amezqueta (STH) 2
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