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Zach Bell (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Evelyn Stevens (Team Lip Smacker) won the men’s and women’s final general classification at the 50th Annual Fitchburg Longsjo Classic NRC stage race on Sunday. Stevens, a 26-year old New York City rider who only started racing bikes last July, finished 20 seconds ahead of second-place Alison Powers (Team Type 1) and 23 second in advance of third place Jeannie Longo (Vitall Plus).

Katusha's Danilo Napolitano hit back Monday at allegations that his race tactics prevented team Cervelo from pulling off a sprint coup on the second stage of the Tour de France. Cervelo's Brett Lancaster, the main lead-out man for the team's Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd, was left frustrated and angry Sunday with what he called the "amateur' racing of Katusha sprinter Napolitano. "We got Thor right up there and then typical Napolitano just smashing people like he's in an amateur bloody under-19 race. It's just disgraceful," Lancaster told AFP. "The guy needs to pull his head in."

Quick Step rider Jurgen van de Walle on Monday became the first cyclist to withdraw from the 2009 Tour de France after suffering a broken collarbone on the second stage. The 32-year-old was involved in a crash just under two kilometers from the finish of Sunday's second, 187km-long stage between Monaco and Brignoles which left him with the broken collarbone and a damaged lung. The Belgian finished the stage, but was taken straight to hospital in Marseille where he was being kept under observation.

For those of you who have read my Chocolate, Waffles and Cross journals from cyclocross seasons past, this is a little out of character for me. Let’s just call it base training for cyclocross season. A while back I caught wind of the inaugural Breck Epic, a six-day ultra-endurance mountain bike stage race held in the sprawling backcountry of Breckenridge, Colorado, and thought it sounded like a good time.

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Belgium's Tom Boonen said Sunday he was more concerned about staying on his bike than sprinting for victory after a crash just before the finish of the second stage of the Tour de France. A right-hand bend just under 2km before the end of the 187km stage between Monaco and Brignoles caused confusion in the peloton, causing some riders to crash and forcing the Quick Step sprinter to ride around the pileup.

Tyler Farrar stuck another feather in his sprint cap on Sunday by finishing an impressive second on his first real Tour de France debut. The Tour de France clicked into action on Saturday when Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara grabbed the race's yellow jersey when he won the opening stage time trial in Monaco. But for sprinters like Farrar, who as an American is a rare breed in his craft, Sunday's hot and sweaty 187 km ride from Monaco to here was the real start of the three-week epic.

The road back to his second Tour de France was different for Ryder Hesjedal this year. While most of his Tour-bound teammates followed the successful blueprint from 2008 and raced the Giro d’Italia in May, Garmin-Slipstream brass put the brakes on the tall Canadian and told him to rest instead of race.

Watching Mark Cavendish totally dominate the other sprinters at Sunday’s stage 2 of the 96th Tour de France set me thinking about the first time I saw him race. It was in early 2005 at the world track championships in Los Angeles, when he was only 19.

U.S.-based photographer Casey B. Gibson has an eye for more than just bike race action. He specializes in capturing the roadside characters and scenes that make the Tour de France special. He will be covering every day of the 2009 Tour de France. Today we present a gallery of his best stage 2 shots. Click here to see his stage 1 gallery.

As has become almost customary for those riders fortunate enough to earn the Tour de France’s yellow jersey, Fabian Cancellara also earned a yellow bicycle from his sponsors. Specialized surprised him with the new Tarmac SL3 about two hours before Sunday's stage. In addition to the yellow frameset, freshly assembled with a custom, yellow-highlighted SRAM Red gruppo and yellow-decaled Zipp 404 Zed Tech wheels, Cancellara sported a yellow Bell helmet to complete the ensemble.

Prepared in advance

Temperatures surged into the high 90s on Sunday as searing summer heat took a grip on the peloton at the Tour de France. Riders sprinted for the line into Brignole with extra intensity Sunday because it seemed like they just wanted a cold drink and some shade. “It was brutal heat out there. I couldn’t get enough drinks down,” said Cervélo’s Heinrich Haussler. “I was getting goose bumps with so much heat. I was almost feeling cold.”

Astana’s Lance Armstrong stayed out of trouble on Sunday’s sweltering Stage 2, finishing in 80th place in the same time as stage winner Mark Cavendish. "Days like today are incredibly hot and hard for everyone," said Armstrong. "I just wanted to avoid trouble and get into the rhythm of the race, because yesterday's time trial wasn't really a normal stage. "We had an important day here and then we are on our way to the Pyrenees."

Among all the fantastic time trial bikes on hand in Monaco before stage 1, the team workspace with the broadest range of individuality in terms of TT bike setup was the Garmin-Slipstream pit.

Britain's Mark Cavendish is likely to find out the real strength in depth of his rivals on the Tour de France in the race's third stage from Marseille to La Grande Motte on Monday. The key to Cavendish's four stage wins from the bunch sprints last year, apart from his unstoppable top end speed, was the disciplined riding of his Columbia team who helped crank up the speed before unleasing him a few hundred meters from the line. On Monday Cavendish will find out if sprint rivals Thor Hushovd, Tom Boonen and Tyler Farrar, among others, have learned anything from those performances

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) sped to victory on Sunday in stage 2 of the 2009 Tour de France, a 187km race from the principality of Monaco to Brignoles. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) took second behind the Manxman with Romain Feillu (Agritubel) third. Race leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) finished safely in the field to retain the maillot jaune.

Lance Armstrong is keeping his Astana team's yellow jersey rivals guessing by refusing to officially endorse Spanish ace Alberto Contador as their definitive team leader. "We're trying to keep it open a little bit," said Armstrong when asked if the results of Saturday's opening stage time trial had helped decide whether he or Contador was now the team's definitive leader. Contador, the 2007 champion, stamped his yellow jersey credentials on the race by finishing second in the opening stage time trial at 18secs behind Fabian Cancellara.