Although it appeared that Stage 2 of the Tour de France might belong to the French, Norway's Thor Hushovd, left, won the drive to the finish in Saint Brieuc on Sunday.
The 30-year-old cyclist for Credit Agricole beat two Team Columbia riders at the finish, after the peloton finally swept up the last of a four-man French breakaway with about 1 kilometer to go.
Alejandro Valverde held onto the leader's yellow jersey. The Spanish cyclist on Caisse d'Epargne stayed at the front of the peloton with his team the entire day, and actually entered the sprint at the finish to protect his jersey.
Break of the day
Sylvain Chavanel of Cofidis participated in a breakaway (with US's Danny Pate among others) just 1 mile into Sunday's 102-mile stage that started in Brittany's Auray. While some riders dropped off, he was joined by Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), David Lelay and Christophe Moreau (both Agritubel) throughout much of the stage.
The four Frenchmen worked well together until it was obvious the peloton, driven by Caisse d'Epargne and Francaise des Jeux, would catch them. Chavanel jumped for a solo attempt on an uphill drive to the finish but was picked off.
Team CSC's Fabian Cancellara made a serious bid for the win inside last kilometer, but couldn't hold onto the lead.
Hushovd
Hushovd drove across the finish line, followed by Team Columbia's Kim Kirchen and Gerald Ciolek. It was Kirchen's second near-miss for a stage win in two days. He remains one second behind Valverde, who sprinted to the finish to make sure he wouldn't lose his overall lead.
The Norwegian sprint and time trial specialist has five prologue and stage wins at the Tour de France, dating back to 2002; his team won the team time trial in 2001. Hushovd wore the yellow jersey a couple of days during the first half of the 2006 Tour de France; you might remember him as the cyclist with the bandaged forearm.
Overall, Hushovd sits in 12th place, 7 seconds behind Valverde.
Top 10 overall:
1. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2. Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia, 1 second behind
3. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
4. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Saunier Duval – Scott
5. Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto
6. Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
7. David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
8. Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval – Scott
9. Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank
10. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas
The four US cyclists:
19. Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Chipotle, 7 seconds behind
22. George Hincapie, Team Columbia
122. William Frischkorn, Garmin, 2:00
138. Danny Pate, Garmin, 3:42
Kirchen comes away with the overall lead in the points competition, and Voeckler maintains the king of the mountains jersey.
Monday is a 129-mile stage to Nantes. Its fairly flat, so expect a big sprint at the finish.
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