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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.

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Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard left no doubt as to who owned the strongest set of legs at the 2009 BC Bike Race, winning the final day into Whistler to clinch the race's overall prize. The two Canadians attacked the field on the day's opening fire road climb and never looked back, finishing clear of the second-place Monavie-Cannondale squad of Matt Shriver and Ben Sonntag to take their fourth stage of the 2009 race. "We wanted to do it up in style," McGrath told VeloNews. "Me and (Sheppard) are the grizzly old veterans at this race. We wanted to put it to the young guys."

The first three Tours de France in the post-Armstrong era have been all won by riders from Spain, but only one hit the jackpot Saturday in the Monaco time trial sweepstakes that opened the 2009 edition.

Contador: on a mission

Australian Cadel Evans was given cause for both optimism and alarm after the opening stage of the Tour de France Saturday that left some of his potential yellow jersey rivals in the race's driving seat. Evans finished fifth in a technically-demanding time trial won by Swiss Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara, who rides with Stuart O'Grady at the Saxo Bank team. But arguably the most notable result was enjoyed by the Astana team of 2007 champion Alberto Contador and seven-time winner Lance Armstrong. The Kazakh-backed outfit placed four riders in the top ten.

It was a non-American Fourth of July Saturday at the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, as Canadian Charles Dionne (Fly V Australia) won the tough 110-mile third stage road race with a dramatic uphill attack half a kilometer from the finish. Australian Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis) finished second and 19-year old Canadian David Boily (Probikepool/Kuota) capitalized upon his low profile — he is a first-year senior rider, has no teammates at Fitchburg, and lives in Quebec City — to latch onto Sutherland’s wheel and finish third.

Olympic silver medalist Hayden Roulston, who has battled back to fitness despite a heart defect, admitted Saturday he still has plenty to learn after confessing to an unsatisfactory Tour de France debut. The 28-year-old, who won silver in the 4000-meter men's individual pursuit in Beijing last August, finish in 111th place in Monaco - 1:57 behind yellow jersey winner Fabian Cancellara.

Britain's David Millar has a reputation for being laid-back, but the Garmin team rider is hoping his new, relaxed attitude on the bike transforms to big results on this year's Tour de France. Millar, 32, has had a tumultuous career which kicked off nearly a decade ago with a famous prologue win ahead of Lance Armstrong in 2000 - and which has really only got back on the rails following a two-year ban for doping.