Stage two of this year’s Tour de France produced the first bunch sprint of the race and the same result as we’ve come to expect – a Mark Cavendish victory.
The stage followed a familiar format, with three riders going clear and building up a comfortable advantage before the sprinters’ teams began the chase.
But a hectic and nervous finale saw Cavendish, riding solo and without the support of a leadout train, use all his skill and guile to record his 21st Tour de France stage win. Here’s how it happened.
Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) rolls to the start in the yellow jersey after victory in Saturday’s prologue
Huge crowds greeted the riders at the start in Vise for the final stage in Belgium
Lotto-Belisol looked to control the finale to setup Andre Greipel for victory
Cavendish latched on to Greipel’s wheel before outsprinting the German
The victory was the world champion’s 21st Tour stage win but first outside of France
