A nine-man break formed early in the stage, with Romain Hardy (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) collecting more mountains points, but the action further behind was already taking centre-stage.

Wide-open roads and blustery crosswinds saw the peloton fracture into several pieces, and the front group – which included Demare – caught the escapees to form a 22-rider leading pack.

Porte, Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Sergio Henao (Team Sky) were all among those dropped, and Porte continued to go backwards as riders were spewed all over the road.

At the front, Henao’s chasing group managed to latch back on, while Contador and QuickStep Floors team-mates Dan Martin and Philippe Gilbert found themselves in the second group.

The Contador group found themselves more than 80 seconds adrift at one point, but a strong chase put them back in touch – the regrouping lighting the touch paper for more attacks off the front.

It was Colbrelli who led out, however, with a huge sprint and – despite plenty of action behind him in the final 200m – nobody could get round him.

Degenkolb came closest but ran out of road as the emotional Italian roared out in delight as he got his hands in the air; Demare finishing third to keep the yellow jersey.

Tour de France 2017: stage two – result

1) Sonny Colbrelli (ITA) – Bahrain-Merida – 4.20.59hrs
2) John Degenkolb (GER) – Trek-Segafredo – ST
3) Arnaud Demare (FRA) – FDJ
4) Dylan Groenewegen (NED) – LottoNL-Jumbo
5) Christophe Laporte (FRA) – Cofidis
6) Matti Breschel (DEN) – Astana
7) Olivier Naesen (BEL) – Ag2r-La Mondiale
8) Andre Greipel (GER) – Lotto-Soudal
9) Alexander Kristoff (NOR) – Katusha
10) Evaldas Siskevicius (LTU) – Delko Marseille Provence KTM

General classification

1) Arnaud Demare (FRA) – FDJ – 7.43.28hrs
2) Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) – QuickStep Floors +6”
3) Philippe Gilbert (BEL) – QuickStep Floors +17”
4) Alexander Kristoff (NOR) – Katusha-Alpecin +19”
5) Tony Gallopin (FRA) – Lotto-Soudal – ST
6) Romain Hardy (FRA) – Fortuneo-Vital Concept +21”
7) Dan Martin (IRL) – QuickStep Floors +23”
8) Sergio Henao (COL) – Team Sky – ST
9) Rudy Molard (FRA) – FDJ
10) Kristijan Koren (SVN) – Cannondale-Drapac +31”