Cavendish makes it two in a row

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After the drought comes the flood, and Mark Cavendish, who was winless in the sprints for 10 stages, broke open the dam with yesterday's victory in Lleida and scored another clear win today in Burgos.

It was a sweet dose of déjà vu for HTC-Columbia as Cavendish was dropped off in a perfect position by his last lead-out man Matt Goss. Clad in green from head to toe, the points classification leader again sealed the deal with ease, finishing off his second consecutive win with a bunny-hop across the finish line.

The last kilometre contained one sharp right-hand bend, and it seemed Cavendish was too far back to contend for the win, but he turned on the jets down the long straightaway and powered to the win ahead of Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam) and Daniele Bennati (Liquigas-Doimo).

"I was scared we were too far back at two kilometres to go but once again the team did its homework and we knew the last corner was wide," said Cavendish. "So while other riders were braking, we were able to dive-bomb the corner. Goss took the inside and we just bombed through.

"He was so fast coming out of the turn I had a hard time holding his wheel. I usually go with 250 metres to go but I waited until 175 to go because he's just so fast and so strong. I really hope he can get a stage win, too."

Cavendish was quick to praise his teammates who were able to set up the Manxman for victory, despite losing powerhouse Hayden Roulston earlier in the stage.

"I know I keep saying it but I've got an incredible team," said Cavendish. "You could really see it today. Other teams took it up and we let them because we lost Hayden Roulston, who is a big engine, so we had to surf on the edge of the peloton. Yet Peter Velits and Tejay Van Garderen were up there for us, even though they're our GC guys.

"The team is always the key, as I say, it's always better to have a star team than a team of stars. All the guys are committed to the cause. They're all passionate about the sport and its history. They're not just interested in money. I'm so proud to be part of this team."

Race leader Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) enjoyed another quiet day in the red jersey and comfortably finished in the field to maintain his 45 second lead over Vincenzo Nibali (Liguigas-Doimo) and 1:04 advantage on Xavier Tondo (Cervélo TestTeam).

Cavendish added to his points classification lead, while Frenchman David Moncoutie (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne) remains atop the mountains classification in his bid to claim a third-straight polka dot jersey.

The likelihood of a third consecutive win for Cavendish is remote, as tomorrow's stage finishes on a category 1 climb to Peña Cabarga. With three hilltop finishes in a row before the next rest day, the sprinters will take a back seat to the GC men for the rest of the week.

Sprinters hold court once again

The points classification battle heated up very early as the first intermediate sprint arrived only 8.4km into the day's 196km route from Rincón de Soto to Burgos. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) took top honours, besting Wouter Weylandt (Quick Step) and points leader Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia). Farrar started the day in second place on the points classification, nine points behind Cavendish, and reduced the Manxman's lead to six points.

With that order of business out of the way, riders vied for early breakaway detail and after 30 kilometres a quintet threw their collective hats into the ring: Allan Davis (Astana), Olivier Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Giampaolo Cheula (Footon-Servetto), Manuele Mori (Lampre-Farnese Vini) and Niki Terpstra (Team Milram). No alarm bells sounded in the Euskaltel-Euskadi camp of leader Igor Anton as Mori was best placed on general classification, 52:52 down in 69th place, and the escapees rapidly put time into the peloton.

At the 53 kilometre mark the breakaway's lead had stretched out to 7:58 which prompted HTC-Columbia to take up the chase in the hopes of another field sprint opportunity for Mark Cavendish. Garmin-Transitions, too, chipped in to assist as they had high hopes for a second stage win by Tyler Farrar.

With both American-based ProTour teams setting tempo, the five escapees saw their lead cut in half where it stabilized at approximately four minutes.

The break stayed together over the stage's pair of category three climbs - the Alto de Pradilla at km 136 and Alto de Valmala at km 160 - and with the mountains out of the way for the day, the peloton got to work to bring back the escapees.

With 36km to go at the summit of the Alto de Valmala, the breakaway's lead had again been cut in half to two minutes and the teams of the sprinters knew they had ample time to absorb the quintet on the fast run-in to Burgos.

At 10km to go the break held a tenuous 40-second lead but with 156km of riding off the front in their legs they did not have the strength to resist much longer. HTC-Columbia, Garmin-Transitions and Quick Step all took strong pulls at the head of the field and just inside of 5km to go it was gruppo compatto.

No one team dominated the run-in to the finish as HTC-Columbia, Garmin-Transitions, Quick Step and Liquigas-Doimo all had their stints at the front. Team Katusha led the peloton into the final turn at 500m to go, but HTC-Columbia's Matt Goss took over at the front on the lengthy finishing straight with Cavendish tucked in his wake waiting to pounce. And pounce he did, as Cavendish accelerated away from his sprint rivals to take his second stage in as many days and extend his points classification lead over Tyler Farrar.

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