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Tour de France 2009 - Stage Two
MONACO > BRIGNOLES • 187 km
4 hrs 30 minutes

Mark Cavendish won the 2nd stage by a few bike lengths but it was also thanks to a strong performance by his Team (Columbia High Road) that ensured he was in the perfect position for a sprint finish. He know has the green jersey and will hope to keep it until the final day in Paris.

"Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the 2009 Tour de France with a blistering long-range sprint finish.

Stef Clement, Cyril Dessel, Jussi Veikkanen and Stephane Auge led for most of the 187km stage from Monaco to Brignoles but were caught by the pack.

Cavendish avoided a couple of late crashes before powering his way to his fifth Tour stage victory, while Fabian Cancellara retained the yellow jersey.

American Tyler Farrar was second with France's Romain Feillu finishing third.

The victory confirmed why Cavendish is rated the best sprinter in cycling, crossing the line for his 42nd professional victory, surpassing the previous British record of 41 wins held by Chris Boardman.

The 24-year-old, who won four stages during the 2008 Tour before withdrawing to concentrate on the Olympics, was poised perfectly heading into the final kilometre thanks to the dedication of his Columbia team-mates, who had gathered at the front of the peloton 75km from the finishing line.

Cavendish steered clear of a crash on the approach to the finishing straight and with 500m to go, burst through to cross the finish line almost two bike lengths ahead of Farrar and the chasing pack of sprinters.

The victory sees Cavendish takes the green jersey from Olympic team-mate Bradley Wiggins, who finished way down in 114th spot after impressing in Saturday's time trial.

"The team were motivated for the sprint. I rode intelligently. I was protected well and did not waste energy," said Cavendish, who won three stages of the 2009 Giro de Italia. "It was a pretty long sprint but I was able to hold it."

"We were the only team for a while sprinting with Saxo Bank and then Cervelo came in with one guy.

"When we put two guys in, when we took control, we showed we meant business and I'm happy to finish it with a win."

Cavendish revealed he was unsure how he would settle into his first road stage after finishing the time trial fourth from last.

"I didn't know how open my legs would be," he added. "In Tours it normally takes me a few days of riding. But I felt good today."

Seven-time winner Lance Armstrong finished in 80th place among the bulk of the peloton, while Astana team-mate and prerace favourite Alberto Contador finished 58th."

src: bbc.co.uk/sport


Stage Two result:

1. Mark Cavendish (GB/Team Columbia) 4 hours 30 minutes 2 seconds
2. Tyler Farrar (USA/Garmin-Slipstream) same time
3. Romain Feillu (Fra/Agritubel) "
4. Thor Hushovd, (Nor/Cervelo) "
5. Yukiya Arashiro (Jap/Bouygues Telecom) "
6. Gerald Ciolek (Ger/Milram) "
7. William Bonnet (Fra/Bouygues Telecom) "
8. Nicolas Roche (Ire/AG2R) "
9. Koen de Kort (Ned/Skil-Shimano) "
10. Lloyd Mondory (Fra/AG2R) "

No change in the overall standings:

Overall standings

1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi/Saxobank) 4 hours 49 minutes 34 seconds
2. Alberto Contador (Spa/Astana) + 18 secs
3. Bradley Wiggins (GB/Garmin) +19 secs
4. Andreas Kloden (Ger/Astana) +22 secs
5. Cadel Evans (Aus/Silence) +23 secs

Selected others:

10. Lance Armstrong (USA/Astana) +40 secs
14. David Millar (GB/Garmin) +48 secs
21. Carlos Sastre (Spa/Cervelo) + 1 minute 6 secs
92. Charlie Wegelius (GB/Silence) +1 minute 49 secs
176. Mark Cavendish (GB/Team Columbia) +3 minutes 14 secs

Stage 3 is MARSEILLE > LA GRANDE-MOTTE • 196.5 km
The first half of the route has a few hills but the finish is flat and is likely to see Mark Cavendish go for another stage win although I'm sure some of the other teams with sprinters will do there best to stop him.

He's now won 5 stages of the TdF (4 in the 2008 tour)- when he gets to 8 he'll equal the UK record held by cyclist Barry Hoban (1967 - 1975).

Incidentally, Barry Hoban's first stage, in 1967, when he was allowed to win after the death of Tommy Simpson on the previous stage.