British rider underlines standing as leading sprinter with storming finish

Published on Sunday 5 July 2009 23:31

MARK Cavendish made it clear he is probably untouchable in mass finishes on the Tour de France this year when he stunned the rest of the field to win yesterday's second stage.

Left in front with three of his Columbia team-mates after a crash in the final turn of the 187km stage from Monaco had split the bunch, the Briton was forced into an unexpectedly long sprint in the last 500 metres. It made his victory all the more impressive as second-placed American Tyler Farrar and third-placed Romain Feillu of France never looking in a position to challenge him.

Cavendish, the winner of four stages in 2008 before he exited the race early to focus on the Beijing Olympics, praised his team-mates who had led and protected him in the last 20 km to place him in ideal conditions for the finale. "They're superb, really intelligent guys and efficient too. When you see the work of these eight riders riding for me, it's impressive," he said. "I'm glad I could win it. There's a lot of people involved in a sprint like this."

The stage win means Cavendish takes the green jersey from Olympic team-mate Bradley Wiggins, who finished way down in 114th spot after impressing with a third-place finish in Saturday's time trial. The victory also gives Cavendish increasing hope of reaching Paris on 26 July in the green jersey for the points classification champion and was his 42nd professional triumph, surpassing the previous best by a British rider of 41 held by Chris Boardman.

While Cavendish is already the most successful British professional rider, he can now set his sights on Barry Hoban's British record of eight stage victories on the Tour. "I had two goals on this Tour, one was to go to the end of the Tour and take as many wins along the way," he said. "But I don't want to look too far ahead."

Cavendish had said before the race that he thought the second stage might be too early for him to record his first win in this year's Tour and he was delighted to be proved wrong. "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. I was protected well, I rode intelligently, I didn't waste energy which is easy to do at the beginning of a Grand Tour when you're fresh. It was a pretty long sprint but I had to take it on and I was able to hold it."

The heat, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius, was merciless in the peloton. "I cannot remember riding in such heat. It was like riding in a hot bath," said Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara, who won Saturday's time-trial opener, and retained the yellow jersey for his Saxo-Bank team after finishing in the peloton.

The weather did not stop four riders launching the first long breakaway in this Tour on the third category climb to La Turbie, after 13 km. Finn Jussi Veikkanen, Dutchman Stef Clement, Frenchmen Cyril Dessel and Stephane Auge joined forces for 166 km and held a maximum lead of 5mins 20secs with 100 km to go.

In the last 40 km, Cavendish's team-mate Mark Renshaw seized control of the peloton to increase the pace and the gap gradually diminished. The four were caught with 9km to go before, ultimately, the textbook sprint from Cavendish and his team-mates saw him hold off his other challengers.

Veikkanen, in his debut tour, took maximum points on three of the four climbs to claim the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey.

American Lance Armstrong, back in the saddle after almost four years in retirement, remained tenth overall after riding in the peloton all day and finishing in 80th place. Asked about how the stage went, the seven-time Tour champion said simply: "Hot", before adding: "It's hard to hydrate. But you know, it's hot for everybody."

Today's third stage from Marseille to La Grande Motte could be another tricky one, with strong winds forecast on the 196.5km along the Mediterranean coastline.