Stage 2 -- July 2: Visé to Tournai, 207 km (129 mi)
Back to normality with a bunch sprint and a Cavendish win Photograph: AFP
It was a sight we have seen twenty times before on the Tour de France. Mark Cavendish breaking from the pack with about two-hundred meters to go and powering his way to the line. Sure it wasn't as definitive as it has been in the past and had it been perhaps ten more meters his old foe Andre Greipel might even have had him, but it wasn't and as the saying goes, it doesn't matter whether you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning and nobody does it better than Cavendish.
The 2012 Olympic Champion (correct?) worked without the aid of his usual lead-out train who are for the most part being kept in reserve to look after Yellow jersey favorite Brad Wiggins. As it was, Cavendish had to leap from train to train, using whatever means he could to get into his ideal position when it came time to turn it on.
The win was his 21st of his Tour de France career -- in just XX races for a staggering hit rate of XX percent -- and puts him just one behind legendary sprinter André Darrigade. Indeed, it also puts him one win behind the career total of Lance Armstrong, a mark he should beat before the end of this Tour and before Armstrong is eventually stripped of this twenty-two wins courtesy of the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) later in the year.
All in all it was the standard stage we are used to seeing in the first week of a tour: No serious climbs, a break that was swept up within sniffing distance of the line, and the mass bunch sprint with Cavendish taking the spoils.
It wasn't enough for him to pull on the Green jersey though, that went onto the shoulders of Peter Sagan, a man Cavendish ruled out as a threat for this stage given the raw speed it would require. While proven right on Sagan for the stage two win, it would seem that in the fight for his points jersey, Cavendish certainly can't rule out the consistent Slovak who still managed to come in sixth today.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“"I was alone in the last kilometre. I told Edvald [Boasson Hagen] with five kilometres to go just do your own thing. We haven’t worked enough together when it's so hectic like that. If it had just been the sprinters then it would have been okay but there were climbers and GC riders at the finish. I’d rather just go alone.” -- Mark Cavendish on how he was able to win a race without the use of his lead-out train.
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FAKE TWEET OF THE DAY
@andregreipel Those bastards in race organisation shortened the finish line by ten meters. Seriously. #screwed
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STAGE 2 RESULT
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Sky in 4-56-59
2. Andrè Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol
3. Matt Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
4. Tom Veelers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
5. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-ISD
6. Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale all at same time
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 2
1. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) RadioShack-Nissan in 10-02-31
2. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky at 7 sec
3. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma QuickStep at same time
4. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing at 10 sec
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Sky at 11 sec
6. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha at 13 sec
7. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing at same time
8. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 17 sec
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas at 18 sec
10. Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp at same time
