Cavendish wins Tour's second stage; Armstrong in pack

RIGNOLES, France - Britain's Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the Tour de France in searing heat Sunday, with seven-time champion Lance Armstrong finishing safely in the trailing pack.

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland kept the overall lead after capturing the opening time trial a day earlier. He leads Alberto Contador by 18 seconds. Bradley Wiggins is third, 19 seconds back, and Armstrong is 10th overall, 40 seconds behind.

"The heat was like you were baking bread. ... It was terrible," Cancellara said on French TV. He said that with about an hour left of riding his team manager said the temperature hit 104 degrees. "I haven't seen heat like that in years."

Armstrong finished 80th. When asked how the stage went, he said "hot" before a long pause.

"It's hard to hydrate," he said outside his team bus. "But, you know, it's hot for everybody."

The 37-year-old Texan, on his comeback Tour four years after retiring, said his strategy was "just avoid trouble and get in the rhythm of the race."

Cavendish clenched his fists and smiled as he crossed the line a split second in front of runner-up Tyler Farrar of the United States and third-place finisher Romain Feillu of France.

With a solid escort from his Team Columbia, Cavendish almost made the 116-mile ride it look easy.

"I'm glad I could win to just pay them back," he said after finishing in 4 hours, 30 minutes, 2 seconds, the same time as all but two of the riders. "It's emotional for me."

Cavendish won three stages in the Giro d'Italia in May and is proving to be among the world's leading sprint specialists. This was Cavendish's fifth Tour stage win.

Cavendish took the green jersey awarded to the Tour's best sprinter. This is his third Tour but he has never finished. He said his goal was to win a stage and complete the three-week race, which ends July 26 in Paris.

Before the stage, Armstrong wrote on his Twitter account that he expected "the bunch will be antsy and aggressive" and predicted Cavendish would win.

There were three minor mid-race crashes. One involved Saxo Bank rider Frank Schleck of Luxembourg, a possible title contender. The last one occurred at a fork in the route in the last mile.

"With the heat like that, sometimes there's a lack of concentration among the riders," Cancellara said.

Cancellara also had a slight mishap. Teams often protect the yellow jersey like a queen bee, but he briefly dropped back on his own for a seat adjustment from a Saxo Bank mechanic before catching up.

On a muggy day with temperatures exceeding 86 degrees, the riders completed a tricky course that began in the principality of Monaco and ended in Brignoles.

During the ride, water bottles sailed out of the pack like corn kernels popping, as riders refreshed themselves along the route through the sun-baked Provence hills that featured medieval sites like a Cistercian abbey.

The stage was marked by four minor climbs in a layout favoring sprinters and breakaway specialists. Monday's third stage will be similar - a 122-mile course from the Mediterranean port city of Marseille to La Grande Motte. The forecast is for hot weather.

Notebook: Menchov still eyes Tour podium despite poor start

BRIGNOLES, France - Denis Menchov of Russia still believes he can finish on the Tour de France podium despite a dismal time trial to the start the three-week race.

After winning the Giro d'Italia in May, Menchov was one of the pre-race favorites in a bid to become the first man to win both races in the same year since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.

But he lost 1 minute, 31 seconds in Saturday's first stage to Fabian Cancellara, who overtook the Russian after starting 90 seconds later in the race against the clock. Menchov also has a 1:13 deficit to Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour winner who finished second in the first stage.

"I lost a little bit more time than expected, but there's no problem," Menchov told The Associated Press before Sunday's second stage. "The most difficult part of the Tour is the last week."

On his way to his Giro win, Menchov had to fight every day to stave off Italian Danilo Di Luca's challenge - raising questions about whether he had fully recuperated from his efforts.

"The problem is not that I'm tired," the Rabobank rider said. "It's just that I was not in the rhythm of the competition. I've spent one month away from competition and yesterday's stage was strange. It was a hard time trial rather than a classical prologue. But I'm still a contender for the podium."

CANCELLARA'S FIRST-DAY FLAIR

Fabian Cancellara, winner of the opening day time-trial in Monaco, earned his 10th career day in the leader's yellow jersey.

The Swiss rider wore the coveted shirt for two days in 2004 after he won the prologue in Liege, Belgium, in his Tour debut, and for seven days after his 2007 prologue win in London.

With his win in Monaco, Cancellara joined cycling legend Eddy Merckx, Thierry Marie and Chris Boardman, who also won the Tour's opening time trial three times. Bernard Hinault won a record five and Lance Armstrong won it twice: in 1999 and 2002.

THE POLKA-DOT FINN

Jussi Veikkanen became the first Finnish rider in the Tour history to earn the polka-dot jersey given to the race's best climber.

The 28-year-old Francaise des Jeux team rider is competing in his first Tour this year. The former mountain bike specialist arrived first at the top of three of the four small ascents of Sunday's stage to take the polka-dot jersey from Alberto Contador.

The Spaniard, one of the Tour's best climbers, didn't defend the jersey, and Veikkanen is likely to lose it when the Tour enters the Pyrenees and Alps later in the race.

Veikkanen is the only Finn on this year's Tour - though British rider Charles Wegelius was born in Espoo, Finland.

-- Samuel Petrequin

Tour de France at a glance

BRIGNOLES, France - A brief look at Sunday's second stage of the Tour de France:

Stage: A 116.2-mile ride between Monaco and Brignoles.

Winner: Mark Cavendish of Britain, who won the final sprint in front of American Tyler Farrar and Romain Feillu of France. Cavendish won his fifth stage on the Tour after claiming four stages last year.

Yellow Jersey: Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, winner of the opening time-trial on Saturday. Spaniard Alberto Contador is in second place, trailing the time-trial Olympic champion by 18 seconds. Briton Bradley Wiggins is in third place, 19 seconds back. Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong finished in the pack and remains 10th, 40 seconds back.

Quote of the Day: "The heat was like you were baking bread. ... It was terrible." - Fabian Cancellara on Sunday's blazing heat.

Next stage: Monday's third stage takes the riders from Marseille to La Grande-Motte on a 122.11-mile route. The stage is mainly flat in its last 65 miles and seems tailor-made for sprinters, especially with the hot weather expected.

Tour de France Results

1. Mark Cavendish, Britain, Team Columbia-High Road, 4 hours, 30 minutes, 2 seconds.

2. Tyler Farrar, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, same time.

3. Romain Feillu, France, Agritubel, same time.

4. Thor Hushovd, Norway, Cervelo Test Team, same time.

5. Yukiya Arashiro, Japan, BBOX Bouygues Telecom, same time.

6. Gerald Ciolek, Germany, Team Milram, same time.

7. William Bonnet, France, BBOX Bouygues Telecom, same time.

8. Nicolas Roche, Ireland, AG2R-La Mondiale, same time.

9. Koen de Kort, Netherlands, Skil-Shimano, same time.

10. Lloyd Mondory, France, AG2R-La Mondiale, same time.

11. Nicolai Trussov, Russia, Team Katusha, same time.

12. Angelo Furlan, Italy, Lampre-NGC, same time.

13. Said Haddou, France, BBOX Bouygues Telecom, same time.

14. Mark Renshaw, Australia, Team Columbia-High Road, same time.

15. Heinrich Haussler, Germany, Cervelo Test Team, same time.

16. Tony Martin, Germany, Team Columbia-High Road, same time.

17. Alexandre Pichot, France, BBOX Bouygues Telecom, same time.

18. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne, same time.

19. George Hincapie, United States, Team Columbia-High Road, same time.

20. Kenny Robert van Hummel, Netherlands, Skil-Shimano, same time.

44. Christian Vande Velde, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, same time.

80. Lance Armstrong, United States, Astana, same time.

105, Levi Leipheimer, United States, Astana, same time.

153. Danny Pate, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, same time.

164. David Zabriskie, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, same time.

1. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland, Team Saxo Bank, 4:49:34.

2. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 18 seconds behind.

3. Bradley Wiggins, Britain, Garmin-Slipstream, :19.

4. Andreas Kloden, Germany, Astana, :22.

5. Cadel Evans, Australia, Silence-Lotto, :23.

6. Levi Leipheimer, United States, Astana, :30.

7. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Republic, Liquigas, :32.

8. Tony Martin, Germany, Team Columbia-High Road, :33.

9. Vincenzo Nibali, Italy, Liquigas, :37.

10. Lance Armstrong, United States, Astana, :40.

11. Gustav Larsson, Sweden, Team Saxo Bank, :41.

12. Mikel Astarloza, Spain, Euskaltel-Euskadi, :44.

13. David Zabriskie, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, :47.

14. David Millar, Britain, Garmin-Slipstream, :48.

15. Jerome Coppel, France, Francaise des Jeux, :51.

16. Sylvain Chavanel, France, Quick Step, :56.

17. Christian Vande Velde, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, :57.

18. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg, Team Saxo Bank, 1:00.

19. Linus Gerdemann, Germany, Team Milram, 1:03.

20. Remi Pauriol, France, Cofidis, 1:05.

34. George Hincapie, United States, Team Columbia-High Road, 1:17.

37. Danny Pate, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 1:20.

77. Tyler Farrar, United States, Garmin-Slipstream, 1:42.

Tour de France Stages-Winners

July 4 - First Stage, Monaco_Monaco, individual time trial, 15.5 kilometers (9.6 miles) (stage: Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland; yellow jersey: Cancellara)

July 5 - Second Stage, Monaco_Brignoles, plain, 187 km (116.2) (Mark Cavendish, Britain; Cancellara)

July 6 - Third Stage, Marseille_La Grande-Motte, plain, 196.5 km (122.0)

July 7 - Fourth Stage, Montpellier_Montpellier, team time trial, 39 km (24.2)

July 8 - Fifth Stage, Le Cap d'Agde_Perpignan, plain, 196.5 km (122.0)

July 9 - Sixth Stage, Gerona, Spain_Barcelona, plain, 181.5 km (112.8)

July 10 - Seventh Stage, Barcelona_Andorra Arcalis, Andorra, high mountain, 224 km (139.2)

July 11 - Eighth Stage, Andorra-la-Vieille_Saint-Girons, France, high mountain, 176.5 km (109.7)

July 12 - Ninth Stage, Saint-Gaudens_Tarbes, high mountain, 160.5 km (99.7)

July 13 - Rest Day, Limoges

July 14 - 10th Stage, Limoges_Issoudun, plain, 194.5 km (120.9)

July 15 - 11th Stage, Vatan_Saint-Fargeau, plain, 192 km (119.3)

July 16 - 12th Stage, Tonnerre_Vittel, plain, 211.5 km (131.4)

July 17 - 13th Stage, Vittel_Colmar, medium mountain, 200 km (124.3)

July 18 - 14th Stage, Colmar_Besancon, plain, 199 km (123.7)

July 19 - 15th Stage, Pontarlier_Verbier, Switzerland, high mountain, 207.5 km (128.9)

July 20 - Rest Day, Verbier

July 21 - 16th Stage, Martigny, Switzerland_Bourg-Saint-Maurice, France, high mountain, 159 km (98.8)

July 22 - 17th Stage, Bourg-Saint-Maurice_Le Grand-Bornand, high mountain, 169.5 km (105.3)

July 23 - 18th Stage, Annecy_Annecy, individual time trial, 40.5 km (25.2)

July 24 - 19th Stage, Bourgoin-Jallieu_Aubenas, plain, 178 km (110.6)

July 25 - 20th Stage, Montelimar_Mont Ventoux, high mountain, 167 km (103.8)

July 26 - 21st Stage, Montereau-Fault-Yonne_Paris-Champs-Elysees, plain, 164 km (101.9)

Total: 3,459 kms (2,149.5 miles)