Mark Cavendish of the American team Columbia-HTC won the long, hot stage two of the Tour de France today, with Garmin-Slipstream 25-year-old sprinter Tyler Farrar placing second and Frenchman Romain Feillu rounding out the top three. On his Twitter feed, Lance Armstrong, who finished in the main pack, wrote: “And congrats to Tyler Farrar for coming 2nd. Folks, remember that name. He’s a good one. And a good dude.”

Though there were several crashes during the stage, none of the riders appeared to be seriously injured, and the overall standings remained unchanged, with Saxo Bank’s Fabian Cancellara retaining the leader’s yellow jersey.

Cavendish, known as the “Manx Missile” has been virtually unbeatable in field sprints over the past two years–though Farrar beat Cavendish four months ago in the Tirreno-Adriatico race. Farrar will have another chance to win a sprint finish in tomorrow’s 122-mile stage from Marseille to the Mediterranean resort town of La Grande-Motte.

Geoff Van Dyke
Geoff Van Dyke
Geoff Van Dyke was the magazine’s editorial director from 2021 to 2024. He is currently a Denver-based writer and editor.