The German was among the favourites for the victory, with a bunch sprint having been expected to unfold at the conclusion of the 153 kilometre route from Numana.

A four-man breakaway attempted to defy the prediction but their effort ultimately came to nothing as the peloton caught its final survivor Marcus Burghardt of Germany with 20km to go.

A crash inside the final 10km removed Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria from contention for the stage win, although Slovakia’s Peter Sagan narrowly emerged unscathed.

The three-time world champion went head-to-head with Kittel at the finish but the Katusha-Alpecin rider was first across the line in a time of 3 hours 49min 54sec.

"This second stage victory isn’t necessarily better than the first one, which was my first pro win in Italy, so it was special," said Kittel.

"Today’s win is also special because it's the birthday of team-mate Nathan Haas and it wasn’t an easy stage at all.

"I’m proud of the team."

Kittel added: "Katusha-Alpecin has a big potential in leadout with Rick Zabel and Marco Haller.

"With rouleurs like Alex Dowsett and Tony Martin, we can combine things really well.

"Today’s victory will keep everyone in the team motivated."

Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski retained the overall race lead after finishing safely in the main field.

The Team Sky rider will hold a narrow three second advantage over BMC Racing’s Damiano Caruso heading into tomorrow’s final stage.

Italy’s Caruso will hope to overturn the deficit tomorrow, with the International Cycling Union WorldTour race due to conclude with a 10km individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.