Cavendish Does It Again!

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.