Cavenish takes second stage of Tour of Ireland

Mark Cavenish enjoyed a stunning victory in the second stage of the Tour of Ireland from Clonmel to Killarney today.

The 24-year-old Isle of Man rider executed a perfectly timed lead-out from his Columbia HTC team-mates to record his fourth-ever stage win on Irish roads since the Tour's inception in 2007.

“We know we can win in those situations,” said Cavendish. “We have to be happy with a stage win like that after missing out yesterday.”

Cavenish has proven almost unbeatable in bunch finishes ever since he assumed the role from Columbia, but it looked for long periods today that a two-man break of Mark Cassidy (An Post-Sean Kelly) and Dennis Van Wynden (Rabobank) would stay clear for the entire day.

Launching an attack straight from the gun, Van Wynden instigated the breakaway which Cassidy followed and working together, the duo managed to build a lead that at once time stood at over 14 minutes.

However, the rolling stage punctuated by three categorised climbs soon took its toll and Cassidy was soon dropped and reeled in by the chasing pack.

"Really really wrecked, it was a tough stage out there today, very windy on the climbs and difficult to race with just two of you."

Van Wynden decided to persevere in search of the stage win but with Astana and Columbia each alternating at the front of the race, his earlier margin was whittled back and his gallant solo effort was reeled in with less that 15km to go.

Rusell Downing of the CandiTV-Marshalls pasta team still leads the overall, albeit by a mere five seconds which should ensure plenty fireworks on tomorrow’s 185km final stage into Cork.

Leading final positions after Stage 2 (Clonmel – Killarney, 196km):

1 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Team Columbia – HTC 5hrs 07mins 33secs, 2 Michael Van Staeyen (Bel) Rabobank Continental at same time, 3 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank at same time, 4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Joker Bianchi at same time, 5 Steven Van Vooren (Bel) An Post Sean Kelly Team at same time, 6 Martin Reimer (Ger) Cervelo Test Team at same time, 7 Ian Wilkinson (Gbr) Team Halfords at same time, 8 Christoff Van Heerden (Rsa) MTN Cycling at same time, 9 Pierpaolo De Negri (Ita) ISD – Neri at same time, 10 Juan Van Heerden (Rsa) MTN Cycling at same time, 11 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Rabobank Continental at same time, 12 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team at same time, 13 Antonio Cruz (USA) BMC Racing Team at same time, 14 Kenny Lisabeth (Bel) An Post Sean Kelly Team at same time, 15 Sam Bennett (Irl) Irish National Team at same time

General classification after stage 2:

1 Russell Downing (Gbr) Candi TV - Marshalls Pasta 10hrs 18mins 00sec, 2 Alexander Kolobnev (Rus) Team Saxo Bank at 0.05, 3 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank at 0.07, 4 Philip Deignan (Irl) Cervelo Test Team at 0.10, 5 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team Columbia – HTC at 0.11, 6 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Astana at same time, 7 Frederik Wilman (Nor) Joker Bianchi at same time, 8 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank at 0.17, 9 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank at 0.22, 10 Andrey Grivko (Ukr) ISD – Neri at 0.23, 11 Daniel Lloyd (Gbr) Cervelo Test Team at 0.25, 12 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Continental at 0.26, 13 Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) ISD – Neri at same time, 14 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Joker Bianchi at same time, 15 Craig Lewis (USA) Team Columbia – HTC at same time