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Farrar impresses with his second place

by VeloNews.com

• July 05, 2009
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By Justin Davis, AFP

Tyler Farrar stuck another feather in his sprint cap on Sunday by finishing an impressive second on his first real Tour de France debut.

The Tour de France clicked into action on Saturday when Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara grabbed the race’s yellow jersey when he won the opening
stage time trial in Monaco.

But for sprinters like Farrar, who as an American is a rare breed in his craft, Sunday’s hot and sweaty 187 km ride from Monaco to here was the real start of the three-week epic.

Once again, the 25-year-old had to settle for second best as unstoppable Briton Mark Cavendish upheld the form book by winning a small bunch sprint and
pulling on the green jersey for the points competition.

Having come close, at least once, to beating the Manxman at last month’s Giro d’Italia, Farrar’s second place on the world’s biggest race Sunday has given him hope he can go one place better.

“At the finish Julian (Dean) gave me the perfect lead-out. I really couldn’t have asked for more, I was in perfect position and didn’t have to make any extra efforts,” said Farrar, who knows he is inching closer to a first major Tour stage victory.

“That was the plan coming here. It was the same at the Giro, I know I’m right there. I just have to keep trying and hopefully one of these days I’ll go one better.”

With Cavendish in such fine form and given great support by a Columbia team captained by American veteran George Hincapie, Farrar, and sprinters like Tom Boonen and Thor Hushovd are going to have their hands full.

“Today I had it in mind to try and anticipate him and jump before him but he went early as well,” added Farrar.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong today. He just beat me. But hopefully the legs will get even better for me.

“He had the perfect sprint train today – they did a really good job.

“Like I say, there’s no trick you can pull to beat him. You just have to sprint really fast. That’s all there is to it.”

But Farrar is hoping his fledgling relationship with New Zealand teammate Dean, his main lead-out man, will reach a stage where details like timing, speed, and a healthy dose of good fortune all come together.

“We barely raced with each other before this year. It’s just a matter of getting to know each other and developing a confidence,” he added.

“It just takes time, you can’t just hook up with your lead-out man and then go boom, boom, boom, perfect.

“We’re just getting better and better at anticipating each other.”