The third and final Dutch stage of the Grand Tour consisted of a 189 kilometre route from Nijmegen to Arnhem, the reverse of the start and finishing cities yesterday.

It came as no surprise to see a local rider in the breakaway, with Dutch star Maarten Tjallingii starting an early move before being quickly joined by South Africa’s Johann Van Zyl, Spain’s Julen Amezqueta and Italy’s Giacomo Berlato.

The quartet held off the peloton ahead of the final lap of a finishing circuit in Arnhem, but with their advantage standing at just over one minute, Van Zyl launched a solo move at 12km to go.

An impressive individual effort drew to a close ahead of the final kilometre, with the sprinters' teams able to catch the South African.

Another fine lead-out from the Etixx-Quick Step team saw Kittel well positioned to launch his effort, with the German cruising away from his nearest challengers to take victory in four hours, 23 min and 45 sec.

Italian duo Elia Viviani and Giacomo Nizzolo, who ride for Team Sky and Trek-Segafredo respectively, finished on the same time as the stage winner to complete the top three.

"I’m very happy with this second stage win and also very proud of what we have achieved as a team,” said Kittel, who took over the race lead and the Maglia Rosa jersey after receiving 10 bonus seconds.

“On paper it maybe looked like an easy stage but in reality it wasn’t, it was quite dangerous because of the wind, and there was always a fight.

“This is my second time winning two stages in a row at the Giro d’Italia but in Ireland in 2014 I didn’t get to wear the pink jersey.

“This time I’ll have it after the rest day and I want to finally win a stage in Italy as well."

Kittel will resume the race nine seconds clear over former race leader Tom Dumoulin of The Netherlands.

Costa Rica’s Andrey Amador lies in third place, with the Movistar rider currently 15 seconds off the pace.

After the rest day tomorrow, the race will resume on Italian soil with a 191km stage from Catanzaro to Praia a Mare.