Few things in life are certain, especially in the Tour de France - but one thing is becoming more and more clear: never bet against Mark Cavendish in a sprint.
Cavendish literally lunged to victory in the second stage of the Tour de France, barely separating himself from the hungry pack until the final seconds of the 129-mile ride.
Fabian Cancellara retained the overall leader's yellow jersey, staying seven seconds ahead of Bobby Wagner.
This is the 21st Tour stage victory for Cavendish who is one of the better bike sprinters in the world.
"It's quite nice. I came into this sprint day with really the least pressure I've ever had in a Tour stage," Cavendish said. "Normally in the past, I've had a full dedicated team. Normally I win by some bike lengths. Today I had to lunge at the line, so you see that it wasn't too easy."
The overall top 10 riders remained the same following the results of the stage:
1. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) RadioShack-Nissan
2. Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) Team Sky
3. Sylvain Chavanel (Franace) Omega-Pharma-QuickStep
4. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) Team Sky
6. Denis Menchov (Russia) Katusha
7. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) BMC
8. Cadel Evans (Australia) BMC
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Liquigas
10. Ryder Hesjedal (Canada) Garmin-Sharp
Los Angeles, California resident David Zabriskie of Team Garmin-Sharp lost 20 seconds on the stage and is now 4:27 back in 167th place.
Stick with this StoryStream for recaps, previews and more from the 2012 Tour de France. For all things cycling, check out Podium Cafe.