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Polka dots on the fly

Three men made the breakaway shortly after the start to the southeast of Brussels in Visé.

With 54km gone today, we have a three-man breakaway with a 7:50 advantage on the field. Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat) initiated the action 22km into the stage and soon after, Christophe Kern (Europcar) and stage 1 hoss and polka dot jersey holder Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) jumped on-board.Brian HolcombeJul 2, 2012 at 8:06 AM

Mørkøv was after KOM points at the Cat. 4 Côte de la Citadelle de Namur at kilometer 82 and his mates let him take them uncontested. Kern grabbed the top sprint points uncontested at Soignies. The trio built a max advantage of more than six minutes, but the sprinters' teams took over the pace-making in the peloton midway through the stage and, led by Lotto and Argos-Shimano, the bunch cut the gap down slowly over 80km.

The men with green jersey aspirations wound it up back in the bunch for the Soignies sprint. Goss took top points in the peloton ahead of Mark Renshaw (Rabobank), Cavendish, green jersey-wearing Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Kenny Van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM).

Lotto and company weren't to miss the Tour's first chance at a bunch finish, however. Saur-Sojasun and Orica contributed to the chase and with 14km to go, Jerome Pineau (Omega Pharma) scooped Roux up.

The build-up

The bunch flew toward the finish in Tournai, familiar to the sprinters, most of whom had contested finales there during the Circuit Franco-Belge in the past. Lotto and Argos continued to run the show, but inside 10km to go, they yielded to bib number one.

Marcus Burghardt, George Hincapie and Tejay van Garderen worked hard between 7km and 4km to go to keep defending Tour champ Cadel Evans at the front ahead of a tricky right-hand corner. As soon as the bunch was through the bend, the red and black train backed off, opening the door for Lotto to take to the front.

One man not up for the finish was Argos' top sprinter, Marcel Kittel, who dropped into the cars.

This just in from our man on the ground, Andrew Hood:
Argo-Shimano sport director Rudi Kemna just confirmed to French TV that Marcel Kittel will not challenge for today's sprint. The big German is hanging at the back of the bunch, with team officials confirming that he is suffering from a bad stomach. Instead, the team will ride for Tom Veelers.Brian HolcombeJul 2, 2012 at 11:22 AM

Lotto was keen to finish the work it had done all day with a Greipel stage win. The big German tucked in behind Tour rookie Greg Henderson, who sat behind Jurgen Roelandts and Adam Hanson. Orica fought for position with Goss in-tow and looked to be moving forward with 1.2km to go. Lotto responded, however, closing the door on the Aussies in a gentle, left-hand bend with a shift to the left. Roelandts led into the final kilometer.

Cav goes on his own

Stage 1 winner Sagan sat on Greipel's wheel, with Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) behind him. Bernhard Eisel guided Cavendish into the final 500 meters, but it was up to the world champion to find his way to the line on the backside of his rivals' lead-outs. He knew the wheel to be on and followed Oscar Freire (Katusha) to the front before bumping Sagan off of Greipel's hindquarters. With the line nearly in sight, Cavendish moved into the jump seat behind what were now two Lotto riders.

Henderson stood and opened the sprint, but a headwind and a gentle uptick in the road slowed him. Greipel opened up with the much smaller Cavendish hidden in his wheel. The German, who is tied with Sagan for the sport's most top-level wins in 2012, appeared to have the victory, hugging the right barrier.

But Cavendish was not to be denied. His yellow helmet leading the way, the 2011 green jersey winner shot left and drew even with Greipel over the final 75 meters. The difference was half-a-wheel at the line. Cavendish had won the 2012 Tour's first bunch finish, making it 21 for his career.

"I left it a bit late, with about 200 (meters) to go, I should have gone past Greipel a bit earlier. It was quite tight at the end," said Cavendish, who said he was even more buoyed by winning in the rainbow stripes.

"I wanted to show this jersey off, you know. I have massive respect for this jersey and everyone who's worn it. Not just on the Tour de France, but on other races as well."

Goss came in behind Greipel on the right for third.

The win was of particular note because Cavendish, who has enjoyed a five-to-seven-man leadout in the past with High Road, piloted himself through the finale. With Sky massing around second overall Bradley Wiggins for a run at yellow, Cavendish is largely on his own for the bunch finishes with only Edvald Boasson Hagen and Eisel, and perhaps Christian Knees on occasion, at his side.

“Now I’m a realist," said Cavendish. "If I have a team to my own, I should win it, right? But when I’m on my own, I’ve got to be plucky.”

Team Sky boss, Dave Brailsford said the win was a mental boon.

"Psychologically that was a big stage for all the sprint teams... He (Cavendish) has proved there why he is the number one in the world and why he has been the number one for a long time."

Cancellara was safe in the bunch all day, but said the opening stages and all the attention the maillot jaune placed on him had taken a toll.

"I'm happy to get to France with the yellow jersey on. I just hope my legs will be better than they were today," said Cancellara. "I was pretty tired today, but I suppose that's normal when we've had two intense stages and all the commitments that go with having the yellow jersey. 

"Thankfully we only stepped up the pace in the final 25 km... I know tomorrow will be a difficult stage, but we've looked at it in detail and hopefully it will be all right for me."

Tomorrow's stage

The 99th Tour de France continues Tuesday with stage 3, from Orchies to Boulogne-Sur-Mer.

Stage 3 profile

by Brian Holcombe on Jul 2, 2012 at 11:56 AM