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Friday's EuroFile: Cavendish wins stage, Nuyens holds Eneco tour lead

By Agence France Presse
Published: Aug. 24, 2007

T-Mobile’s Mark Cavendish won the second stage of the Eneco Tour of Benelux, prevailing in a sprint here on Friday.

The British rider beat American Fred Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) and Belgian Wouter Weylandt after the 200-kilometer race from Antwerp.

Cofidis’ Nick Nuyens retained the leader's red jersey. It is the second win in Belgium this year for the 22-year-old Cavendish after the Escaut Grand Prix, and his eighth success this season following wins in the Four Days of Dunkirk, Tour of Denmark and Ster Elektrotoer.

"The team worked very well at the end. My teammates put me in an ideal position on the final bend," said Cavendish. "There were a lot of very dangerous riders on my heels but when I get going I'm really hard to beat at the moment."

Four riders - Spaniard Ruben Perez, Belgian Frederik Willems, German Marcel Sieberg and Russian Andrei Grivko – made the day’s notable break, building up a lead of four minutes some 35km from the finish.

But the peloton fought back progressively, notably lead by sprinters from the Quick Step, Crédit Agricole and Predictor teams, catching the lead quartet with 10km to go.

Nuyens will be among the favorites for Saturday's third stage between Knokke and Putte over roads which the Belgian regularly covers in training.

"I'm going to ride at home in front of my fans. I'll be very motivated," he warned.