Hushovd powers to Tour stage victory

(CNN) -- Norwegian Thor Hushovd has won the 164.5km second stage of the Tour de France from Auray to Saint-Brieuc on Sunday.

The Credit Agricole sprinter powered clear of his rivals in the final 500 meters of a slightly uphill finish to win the stage in three hours, 45 minutes and 13 seconds.

Team Columbia riders Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg and Gerald Ciolek of Germany were second and third respectively in the windy ride through the Brittany countryside.

Caisse d'Epargne's Alejandro Valverde, the winner of Saturday's opening stage, retains his one-second race advantage over Kirchen and Oscar Freire ahead of Monday's third stage, a 208km ride from Saint Malo to Nantes.

"It's already a good start," said Hushovd -- who has now won six Tour stages in his career. "I don't know if I can win more but it's a good start. I hope to win another stage or two, but now I don't have the pressure and I can relax more."

On the second of three days in Brittany, French riders were at the front for most of the afternoon although in the end their biggest achievement was to showcase their sponsors' jersey.

Shortly after the start, Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel of Cofidis was joined by compatriot Thomas Voeckler of Bouygues Telecom, and together they built up a big lead on the peloton.

After 43km of racing the peloton passed the summit of the Cote de Kergroix with a four-minute deficit to the leaders. Another 50km further on, the lead was down to three minutes.

It was on the summit of the Mur de Bretagne climb, where Valverde avoided potential disaster when an enthusiastic spectator got in his way, that another two Frenchmen attacked the peloton.

Christophe Moreau and his Agritubel team-mate David Lelay raced off and did well to catch their two compatriots at the 107km mark.

At that point the peloton trailed by 2:48, but thanks to the pursuit work of Francaise des Jeux, Caisse d'Epargne and eventually Quick Step, the deficit had dropped to just a minute with 25km to go.

The four leaders continued to defy the bunch, but with a 35 second lead and seven kilometers to ride -- the last four over undulating terrain -- their bid to reach the finish always looked doomed.

It was a conclusion that quickly came to Chavanel, who split from his companions with 2.5km left to race.

His decision to attack earlier in the race soon took its toll, however, and he lasted only briefly before he was sucked in.

In what turned into a thrilling finish, strongman Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland went on a daring solo attack with 1.5km to go, but the CSC time-trial specialist was followed by Italian Filippo Pozzatto.

The pair were eventually caught in the sprint to the line, with Hushovd proving the strongest in the punishing final stretch.