Wait, what? Cavendish won a sprint stage? No way...

The question was never going to be whether Mark Cavendish would win a stage at this years Giro, with Cav these days it's always a given he will ... and he did, today. The question remains, how many will he win. With no serious climbing until the final week of the Tour there is every reason to think he might well break some kind of a record by winning a hatful of stages. Note the words "some kind of" and "hatful". I could go research the exact numbers but I'll assume they are beatable and that someone a long time ago didn't go win every single stage.

Cavendish beat out all the usual names (Matt Goss, Tyler Farrar, Thor Hushovd, Daniele Bennati) that don't stand a chance when the Man from the Isle of Man is on form and must always watch him crossing the line with his arms above his head (above) wishing they were professionals in a different era when he wasn't around.

After the race Cavendish broke from tradition and claimed that the win was all him and that he could have done it without his lazy team ... okay, I jest. Cavendish rolled out the usual lines of thanking the team heaping praise on Ian Stannard who according to the World Champion "did 150 kilometres alone reeling in the break," before emphasizing his effort with a "he did incredible."

Explaining the finish Cavendish took us through it: "Geraint took me perfect and went exactly when he was supposed to. I was able to come off him and win the stage so I'm very, very happy." Well good for you Mark, good for you.

It was the classic flat grand tour stage. Let a break get away early ... let them dangle in front of the group, getting a lead (in this case 13:15) large enough to make people think there is a chance ... then, with the aid of race radios, time the pull back to perfection setting it up for the fast men. I didn't see the race, but I have to imagine that but for the beautiful Danish scenery, and the final couple of kilometres, the race in full probably aided in your Sunday afternoon nap.

There was one other moment of drama however and it involved the man who loves pink, Taylor Phinney, who crashed with 8 kms to go and had to do his second prologue in as many days to catch the bunch before he lost his maliga rosa. "I just found myself on the ground, having touched wheels and lost balance," said a stunned Phinney. "Then I couldn't get my chain back on. So I kind of made a second prologue effort. I was quite scared there for a second that I was going to lose the jersey." How he managed to close the 30-second gap back to the field without his chain on is beyond me but surely the ride of the day despite what Cavendish had to say about Stannard.

No change in the GC thanks to no time bonus' on the line and tomorrow the race stays in Denmark for one more stage ... a super flat stage that I can confirm now will be won by Mark Cavendish.