Key moments

The master of sprinting has proven why his team is prepared to put all its faith in his ability: his Columbia colleagues set him up and Mark Cavendish polishes off the job. After catching the obligatory escape group 11km from the finish of the stage, the teams of the sprint specialists took control of the head of the peloton but it was Cav’s crew who knew what to do the best. He had to start his sprint early but he insisted with the effort and held off a fine challenge from Garmin’s Tyler Farrer.

The Progress Report
The second stage of the 2009 Tour de France began at 12.42pm. There were 180 riders at the sign-on with no casualties from the time trial in Monaco. The conditions were warm and humid with a temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius forecast for the 187km journey from Monaco to Brignoles. There were three intermediate sprints, the first in Nice (at 27km), then Fayence (91.5km) and Lorgues (138km). The stage also featured four categorized climbs, they were in: La Turbie (cat-3 at 8.5km), Roquefort-les-Pins (cat-4 at 49.5km), Tournon (cat-4 at 81.5km) and L’Ange (cat-4 at 129km).  

Four Form The Obligatory Escape Group
The first rider to attack in the 2009 Tour was Dumoulin (COF). He launched off the front at the 4km mark he prompted a reaction from Wegmann (MRM), Txurruka (EUS) and Nocentini (ALM). The Basque team then sent Anton in pursuit. No move gained more than 30 seconds on the Saxo Bank-led peloton. All the early surges were wiped out before the top of the first climb. Tony Martin (THR) reached the front of the pack just in time to participate in the sprint for points on La Turbie and despite pulling his foot as he began to accelerate, he still reached the summit first.
After a little move by Barredo (QSI), the first truly successful escape of the day was instigated by Veikkanen (FDJ) at the 13.5km mark. He was joined by Clement (RAB), Auge (COF) and Dessel (ALM). Auge took first place at the sprint in Nice when the peloton was 1’25” behind. The advantage grew quickly: 2’05” at 30km, 3’00” at 37km. The average speed for the first hour was 43.9km/h. Veikkanen opened his climbing account by leading the escape group over the Roquefort-les-Pins climb.

Frank Schleck & Igor Anton In Crash
At the 67km mark there was a crash involving Frank Schleck (SAX) and Anton (EUS). Both quickly remounted their bikes and rejoined the peloton shortly afterwards. At this stage the peloton was behind the four escapees by 4’25”.
The advantage of the escapees grew to 5’20” after two hours of racing, when Veikkanen claimed first place again on the Tournon climb. The average speed for the second hour was 36.4km/h. In Fayance the sprint points were won by Clement ahead of Auge and Dessel. The bunch was still 5’20” behind – this was the maximum gain of the escapees. The average speed for the third hour was 39.5km/h.
There was another crash, this time at the 129km mark – involving Roulston (CTT), Furlan (LAM), Moncoutie (COF) and Ciolek (MRM); they all remounted their bikes quickly and rejoined the peloton before the 140km mark. Clement was first at the third intermediate sprint. At that point, the peloton was 4’45” behind.

Columbia Set Up The Chase
With 45km to go, the Columbia team joined Saxo Bank at the front of the pack. The advantage of the leaders then dropped rapidly. With 35km to go – 3’00”, 32km to go – 2’35”; 29km to go – 1’55”; 20km to go – 1’00”. 15km to go – 45”… the capture was effected by Ignatiev (KAT) who attacked the peloton with 11km to go. The quartet was caught 10km from the finish and by then the Russian Tour debutant had a lead of 12”. He was caught 5km from the finish. The reward for the escapees was a polka-dot jersey for Veikkanen and the most aggressive rider prize for Clement.

Cavendish Wins His Fifth Tour Stage
Columbia had faith in their sprinter and, once again, Mark Cavendish didn’t disappoint. After a crash on the final turn, the Brit had to start his sprint early – from about 350m out – but he held off the challenge by Tyler Farrar (GRM) to claim his fifth stage victory in the Tour de France. Fabian Cancellara finished 38th in the stage, losing seven seconds to the first 16 men over the line but the Swiss maintains his lead in the general classification.

Of the four escapees from the stage, Stef Clement spent most of the time setting the pace. His reward is the title of Most Aggressive Rider in stage two...

“We knew it was going to be a hard day for everybody: for the attack group as well as the peloton. I would have liked to be in a bigger group. We tried to get more riders involved but when you’re with four you just have to hope for the best. We had an advantage of five minutes, 50km from the finish but if you see the course you know it’s almost impossible to hold that advantage. We worked well together; everybody got what they deserved and I think everyone was happy in the end. This is the Tour, nobody gets a present for nothing.”

He’s the only Finnish rider in the race and now the former national champion can replace his FDJ jersey with a polka-dot one. Jussi Veikkanen is a happy man.

“I got a reward for a long day. It was hard though and I was pretty lucky. We got away on the top of the first climb with four guys. There was an attack and I caught the guys and did a counter-attack and three others joined me. I knew that Stephane Auge had the polka-dot jersey in the first couple of days last year so he was pretty motivated for it but I beat him in the first sprint. After that it was a bit easier for me.
“I’m only a few points ahead of Tony Martin so I’m not sure if I will keep the jersey for a long time.
“One day with a Tour de France prize jersey is really nice for me. I live about 20 kilometers from Brignoles so I knew all the roads of the race and that might have made a bit of a difference.”

His Saxo Bank team-mates rode tempo for most of the stage and, in the end, Fabian Cancellara was able to defend his yellow jersey. From work, comes rewards…

“I feel like I’m burning. The heat was oppressive. I haven’t recovered so well after yesterday’s race but that’s normal. I mean, it was a big effort and today I’m happy that we’ve defended the yellow jersey thanks to my team. They rode really well, they’re really strong and… yeah, now we’re looking to tomorrow.
“I think it will be a little bit easier because it’s a little flatter but we saw today that it was a long time that my team had to pull. In the end we saw team Columbia come forward but until then it was all Saxo Bank at the head of the peloton. In the end they win and they get what they deserved. The others sit on the back doing nothing but this is a race and if you want to win, you have to do something.
“It’s beautiful to ride in the yellow jersey. Everybody’s watching you, plus my whole set-up – the brand new Specialized bike, my yellow helmet… all the suppliers did something and that’s nice. I like that. It’s a compliment. But I didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy it. It was a fast start and a very hot stage.”

When he says it was relatively easy, you need to take Mark Cavendish’s words in context. What he means is that his team sets him up well to finish off a great job. The winner of stage two explains how it happened…

“It was dangerous at the finish. It was quite hard to stay in position. There were guys fighting to stay up front. As soon as my team picked up to line the peloton out it made things a little less hectic.
“I just watched the sprint again while I was waiting to go on the podium. It’s impressive work from my team. When George goes he just strings the peloton out and it frees things up a little. We had some of the best guys in the world riding hard and keeping the pace hard for the last five kilometers. To have Michael Rogers – a three-time world champion – up there and Tony Martin who’s also an amazing rider… these guys were keeping the pace high. Then when Mark (Renshaw) goes, all I’ve got to do is carry on at the same speed and I’m able to do that. So it does come pretty easily.
“I didn’t think it would be quite as simple as what it turned out to be. It was a hard day but I felt good. It usually takes me a few days to open up but I was okay today. It shows how committed we were as a team. Saxo Bank rode well all day today to keep the break within a reasonable distance but for the majority of the time we were the only sprint team working to break the escape back. Cervelo came up with one rider in the end but we had nine guys at the front of the peloton in the last part of the stage and it shows we mean business.
“The green jersey has been a big target for me. I’m wearing it now and… well, okay, I’ve been a pro for three years but this is all I’ve wanted since turning pro. For sure I want to keep it; I’ve made a good debut at the Tour and I want to hold onto the jersey. It was a hard, hot day today and hopefully it won’t get too much hotter.”