Nobody has called to collect $20 yet so Cancellara?s win must have surprised everyone.

The pace is moderate and the peloton seems docile with no attacks yet about 25 km into the race. The only action is Millar finishing in front of Auge at the first hill. He gets one point back in the polka dot competition. Whoopee!  Chavanel, Sprick, Verdugo, Knees and Flecha established a break and set the broadest gap at four minutes. Those five are taking sprint and hill points from the peloton. CSC leads the peloton. It looks like a lone cyclist went down in a crash. A couple of riders have checked into the mobile doctor?s office for treatment. Talk about your house call! Right on cue, there?s a crash near the end of the stage. It?s at the back of the peloton. The racers get back on along with their scraped knees and elbows.

Soon we will see the organized chaos of the sprint finish. It certainly increases the tension and heartrate of racers and spectators alike. After several teams seemed to have been knapping yesterday, expect no sleepers today. I?m wondering about Zabel who appeared to look good yesterday. However, since it was a poorly organized sprint, I don?t see him challenging today. He remains a favorite in sentiment. Maybe McEwen will be better prepared today. For sure I?m not going to pick Cancellara!

Wow, I?ve seen more movement from teams in the last 5 km than I have during all of the four previous stages! The God of Thunder makes some noise and edges Hunter for the win. It seemed Hunter was going faster but had his timing off. The helicopter view showed a great deal of lateral movement among the lead out domestiques and contenders.  I didn?t even see McEwen.

Tomorrow will be a bit more of a challenge for the sprinters when they face a couple of climbs. Who will we be calling the winner then? Can you say Kl?den or Vinokourov?

Hey, who?s that old guy who gets fat in winter coming down the road all alone? It?s Super Dave finishing stage 2! He?s gonna make it afterall. What a stud!