Mark Scanlon continued his excellent Tour de France debut when he finished 36th in the 197km second stage from Charleroi to Namur. He had been one of six riders that were five minutes ahead of the peleton at one stage.
However, the breakaway group, that also included French men Jerome Pineau, Christophe Edelaine and Christophe Mengin, Dane Jakob Piil and Germany's Sebastian Lang, was eventually caught by the main bunch and a frantic sprint finish ensued.
The Sligoman managed 36th in that sprint and, after picking up six bonus seconds for finishing second and third in two of the intermediate sprints today, has jumped from 63rd to 36th in the overall standings and from eleventh to eighth in the young riders' classification. Scanlon's performance also helped his team, AG2R Prevoyance, top today's team classificiation ahead of Lotto.
Australian Robbie McEwen won the stage as Lance Armstrong had another quiet day. The American, bidding for an unprecedented sixth victory, warned his rivals with a brilliant performance in the prologue and is expected to keep comfortably hidden inside the main bunch until Wednesday's team time trial.
Thor Hushovd, third in Charleroi 24 hours before, was second and seized the overall Tour lead, becoming the first Norwegian in the 101 years of the event to wear the coveted yellow jersey.
France's Jean-Patrick Nazon was third in the final sprint, marred by a spectacular crash just 20 metres from the finish involving Norwegian Kurt-Asle Arvesen and France's Jimmy Casper.
Hushovd leads Swiss Fabian Cancellara by eight seconds with McEwen third overall, 17 seconds behind. Armstrong is fourth, a further second adrift.
Filed by James Boylan
