Cavendish goes two for two in Missouri

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It's quite possible that Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) thought of how much easier the Tour of Missouri's incessantly rolling 180.9-kilometre second stage would be on the Buell motorcycle he won just a day earlier. Likewise, the rest of the peloton surely wondered if Cavendish was piloting such a vehicle in the closing several hundred metres of Cape Girardeau's Main Street, as the Briton blazed to his second straight stage win. Despite a stage with nary a patch of flat terrain, spectators gathered in the Mississippi River town were treated to another display of field sprinting prowess from Cavendish.

Cavendish has monopolized the top step of the podium thus far in the Tour of Missouri, besting Thor Hushovd (Cervelo TestTeam) and Juan Jose Haedo (Team Saxo Bank), the latter two flip-flopping their finishing positions from the previous day's opening stage in St. Louis. With Cavendish resplendent in the race leader's yellow jersey, his Columbia-HTC team set tempo in the peloton for much of the stage in order to neutralise a three-rider break which spent nearly 120 kilometres off the front.

When the race came back together with seven kilometres remaining, Cavendish relied on lead-out rider George Hincapie's expertise to pilot him to his 23rd victory of 2009. "The only person I talk to is my last man, who was George [Hincapie] in this instance," said Cavendish. "There’s a lot of teams taking it on and we could afford to, not sit back, but we didn't have to drive it at the end. It was just a case of George keeping me in position.

"With a kilometre to go I saw Cervélo go and there was a gap on Thor's wheel so I got on Thor’s wheel,” he added. “I know I can come off Thor's wheel pretty easy. He’s got a team that is really experienced in what they do and they can drive it really well around the last corner. My best position to be in is on my own teammates' wheels, but my second best place to be is on Thor's wheel and that's what I did. I came off him with a couple of hundred metres to go."

Today's terrain struck a familiar chord with Cavendish, who felt like he was back in the Tour de France. "It was hard terrain that resembled central eastern France and the roads we rode on in the transitional stages of the Tour,” he said. “Obviously the speeds weren't so high, like at Tour, but riding slower made it harder because you were kind of laboring up each climb. The climbs aren't short enough that you roll up them and they aren't long enough that you suffer up, you stop and start and stop and start. That takes a lot more energy. It was tough terrain that becomes quite grippy over 180 kilometres."

Unlike the opening stage in which Columbia-HTC had all seven of Cavendish's teammates riding tempo into the day's endgame, the team devoted a smaller core of riders to provide the horsepower on the front. "We rode with three guys for most of the day - Craig Lewis, Michael Barry and Kanstantsin [Siutsou]," said Cavendish. "They are really experienced guys and they really know what they are doing, knowing when to turn it on and when to turn it up. It makes it a lot easier for us.

"We had Saxo Bank put one rider in and Colavita put two guys in for a small while, but they saved it when they knew it [the break - ed.] was coming back so they went back to set up their train,” he said. “Cervélo didn't help and that’s why they had a lot of guys at the finish. I think it was like that in the Tour and it's going to be like that most places. Most people think they don't want to ride for my team to win. But, if you don't put yourself in then you're not going to win anyway."

Hot, hilly day at the office

Another day of sultry conditions, with high humidity and temperatures approaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit, greeted the peloton as all 118 riders left the start line of picturesque Ste. Genevieve.

Sadly for defending champion Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream), who broke his hand in a crash within sight of yesterday’s finish line, his day would end before crossing the official start after a 4.7-kilometre neutral section. The 33-year-old Vande Velde became the first rider to abandon the race, a heavy blow for his team, gathered family and race fans hoping to see a repeat of his 2008 victory.

Moments after reaching kilometre zero and the commencement of the day's leg-sapping roller coaster terrain, a flurry of attacks occurred as those with fresh legs sought to strike out on a break. Bradley White (OUCH-Maxxis) was the first to make something stick, achieving a gap of 20 seconds before being absorbed by an attentive peloton. Jason Donald (Garmin-Slipstream) was the next to make an escape, before being absorbed by the field within sight of the day's first mountains classification sprint at kilometre 19.

At that point Moises Aldape Chavez (Team Type 1) outsprinted mountains classification leader Chris Anker Sorensen (Team Saxo Bank) for top honours and repeated the effort 19 kilometres later to draw even with Anker Sorensen on KOM points.

"The hardest part of the stage was at the beginning because of the hills," said Aldape Chavez. "We knew that, so the guys did a great job of leading me out both times. I was pretty tired today after [being in the break so long] yesterday. We'll try to defend the jersey"

Aldape Chavez would don the mountains classification at the end of the stage to fulfill his team's goal for the stage. "We were close to collecting enough points yesterday so today's target was to get the [KOM] jersey," said Team Type 1 Directeur Sportif Vassili Davidenko.

Several more attacks were attempted and nullified before the stage's decisive three man break, comprised of Timothy Duggan (Garmin-Slipstream), Kiel Reijnen (Jelly Belly) and Francois Parisien (Planet Energy) made their move after approximately 53 kilometres of racing.

"I was really going for the break today," said Parisien "When I attacked I bridged up to two guys and then just kept going alone. I looked back and Duggan was bridging up to me. I slowed down because I didn't want to go by myself and I waited for him. We worked very well together. A few minutes after that, the guy from Jelly Belly came with us. We were really motivated and went full gas."

"My main goal today was to be in any big break with 10-12 guys with heavy hitters," added Duggan. "I was in one early move with Mick Rogers and then Levi and Zabriskie bridged up and I was keeping an eye out for a move to go. When I went with Francois I could tell that was the break that was going to go. I was hoping more guys would bridge. Sometimes you have to shoot first and ask questions later.

"I wanted to finish on the same time as the leader because I made some time in the time bonuses,” he added. “We want to move our car up in the GC a bit higher so I didn't want to get dropped in the finish. With our team here we have a lot of cards to play. It’s a bummer Christian [Vande Velde] is gone but we still have options like Danny [Pate], [Dave] Zabriskie and even me, [Steven] Cozza and [Mike] Friedman for the time trial. We will see how the race shakes out."

The trio stretched its lead out to nearly five minutes, but the advantage would be gradually chipped away due to the efforts of Columbia-HTC and Team Saxo Bank. The lead group became a duo when Reijnen suffered an untimely mechanical, leaving Parisien and Duggan to vie for the sought after stage win. Despite a spirited effort from both, which saw each attack the other inside the last 15 kilometres, the break finally succumbed with seven kilometres remaining.

"Towards the end we lost Reijnen and it was just me and Timmy," said Parisien. "Inside the last 15 kilometres I attacked two times and my intention was to go solo. The main goal was to win the race and it is just a bonus that after the race I won the [most] aggressive jersey.

"We are really focusing on winning a stage,” he added. “That is the main goal. Maybe we are underdogs but we're really here to win races, not just for show or for the heck of it."

Kelly Benefit Strategies' David Veilleux would also make a strong solo bid for victory with less than two kilometre remaining, but the Cervélo TestTeam train leading Tour de France green jersey winner Hushovd swept up the Canadian and led the field through the last turn on Cape Girardeau's Main Street. Cavendish, however, was not to be denied his 23rd victory of the year and came around Hushovd with 200 metres remaining to take stage honours and remain in the leader's jersey.

The 116 riders remaining in the Tour of Missouri face an even stiffer challenge tomorrow, with the Tour of Missouri's longest stage of 183.9 kilometres between Farmington and Rolla. With more than 7000 feet of climbing in stage three, Cavendish will again have to tap his climbing prowess if he wishes to remain in yellow for the third straight day.

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