Sprinters often state that the pressure eases if they win a stage. That was the case again for one of the favorites for the points classification in 2008, Thor Hushovd. He timed his run to the line to perfection and now says he can relax a little… thanks to a well timed victory in St-Brieuc.

"That’s the best way to start off the Tour de France. Now I can relax a little. There’s not too much pressure anymore; I’ve achieved something and now I can concentrate on the green jersey and perhaps a few other stages.
"With 700 meters to go I was on Mark Renshaw’s wheel and I said to him, ‘I’m here, don’t panic.’ And he went to 400 meters to go and I was right on his wheel. I really started to sprint with 200 to go and it came together in a perfect way. It was a good sprint for me.
"I knew it was the perfect sort of sprint for me. I almost can’t believe that I’ve won it.
"When Cancellara attacks like that, he’s really, really strong. It’s impressive how much power he has. Today it was my turn but I think we’ll see more of Cancellara."

Yesterdays 165-kilometer second stage of Tour de France from Auray to Sain-Brieuc created an opportunity for one of Fabian Cancellara's well-known attacks at the end, where the Swiss rider came close to ditching the main peloton during the final kilometer.

But behind him former stage winner in the exact same town, Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) also managed to escape and when he reached Cancellara the attempt was a dead end.

"I saw Pozzato behind me straight away and when he reached me and just sat there on me wheel I didn't wanna waste any more energy. I'm not the kind of guy who makes a move like that only to land in second place," determined Cancellara after the stage and continued:

"I felt really strong today and I think I got a good sized gap, but unfortunately for me the wind was in the wrong direction so it turned out a lot harder than I'd hoped."

Earlier in the stage Jens Voigt had also made an attempt in the very first break of the day. The German rider got a lead on the peloton with nine others during the first couple of kilometers, but when a few of them started to attack after only a few kilometers Voigt didn't want to waste the effort as the group was to small.

"Bjarne Riis had given Jens the go on tagging along if there were ten riders or more in a break, so when they all started to attack left right and center he didn't want to pursue," said Team CSC Saxo Bank's sports director Scott Sunderland.

Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom) earned the polka-dot jersey by being involved in the escape on the opening day and that very fact prompted Thomas Voeckler’s team-mates to chase down the first escape of the second stage. In turn, that inspired him to try again to no avail. No stage win again, but he has another day in charge of the mountain classification.

"At the start of the stage it was very difficult to gain any time because we were going very quickly. The team did an excellent job by not allowing the first escape to succeed which enabled me to pick up points at the first climb. All that motivated me so I started collaborating with Sylvain Chavanel. Then, when Moreau and Lelay joined us, we tried to speed it up a little more but I had no more legs.
"I’m not ashamed to say that today I was forced skip a few turns of pace – I’m the sort of guy who always takes responsibility and contributes to the work of an escape. Quite simply, I didn’t have the legs because I already spent a day in an escape and that cost me a lot of energy. And we must not forget that 95 per cent of escapes are caught by the teams of the sprinters."

After being on the attack for over 100 kilometers, Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) was swallowed up by the peloton 1,500m from the finish. Again a chance of victory has passed him by but he’s not giving up. Next objective: the time trial in Cholet.

"Me? Caught in the last kilometer? Yeah, I have a habit of doing this! I’m joking, I don’t want to keep doing this! Of course, it’s always disappointing to come so close, especially as the efforts made today will leave a mark. Initially, it was not the intention to go on the attack but when I saw Wegmann, Voigt and a few others go, I said that we should be in the move. Then I insisted, and I had the opportunity to go with Thomas Voeckler. Once it was established, we tried.
"In the last 10 kilometers I still thought we had a one minute advantage but the headwind in the three or four final kilometers proved to be the fatal blow. It’s a shame because otherwise I believe would could have pulled it off.
“I will try again on another stage, that’s for sure. But right now I have to recover, primarily because I want to do a good time trial in Cholet as I did in Albi last year. I have the title of champion of France to honor."

Team Columbia's Kim Kirchen had another good day to place second in Stage Two of the Tour de France. The result earned Kirchen the Green Points Jersey and moved him up into second place in the general classification, one second behind race leader Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne).

Team-mate Gerald Ciolek place third in the stage.

“If we would have the chance to swap second and third for first we would certainly do that," explained Team Director Rolf Aldag, "but we are really happy with the result.

"Kim was there at the end again and was the only one coming close to Thor [Hushovd, editor] at the end so it just shows he is in really good form."

The team did a great job to get Ciolek and Kirchen to the finish in good position and Gerald was able to follow wheels on the difficult uphill finish to place third.

"For Gerald at his first Tour de France and in a very nervous and technical race, he did a great job," added Aldag. "If he had known Kim was coming so quickly from behind he would have loved to have helped him out, but Kim came flying from a long way back on the other side of the road, so there was no way they could help each other."

"I was really a long way back," said Kirchen. "I was surprised that I made up so much ground so I’m really happy. Wearing the Green jersey is an honour."

Mauricio Soler never let go. The Colombian grimpeur tackled with a lot of courage a heavy stage he decided to ride in spite of the serious consequence he had after the Saturday's crash (a suspected fracture to the scaphoid of left wrist and a right wrist distorsion) and a bad night with lot of pains because of the accident.

The whole Team Barloworld supported Mauricio Soler along the course. "We're really proud about how Mauricio bore the pain", team manager Claudio Corti said. Soler finished the second stage over 7' delayed. "I was all over in pain - Mauricio explained - I couldn't force the pace getting up on the pedals. It was a hard day, let's hope for a better tomorrow".

"We hope Soler can hold on tightly - Barloworld's sports director Alberto Volpi said - meanwhile we are going to arrange further X-rays exams to check something more about the scaphoid suspected fracture, if any. Of course, our chances to compete for the general classification are already compromised. On the other hand, Soler didn't come to the Tour de France dreaming of the yellow jersey. Mauricio is still a youngster with little experience, and his frequent crashes are there to demonstrate it"