The story

Mark Cavendish underlined his position as the fastest man in cycling by sprinting away from his rivals to comfortably take the 187km second stage of the Tour de France from Monaco to Brignoles.

The Briton, who rides for the Columbia team, won four stages in last year's race -- and he continued that form into the first flat stage this year by showing devastating pace to cross the line first in a dangerous sprint marred by an accident in the final kilometer which saw Spanish rider Koldo Fernandez take a nasty tumble.

Cavendish finished in a time of four hours, 30 minutes and two seconds, ahead of American Tyler Farrar of the Garmin team, with Frenchman Romain Feillu coming home third. Read full article »