He was talking about field sprints, when the pack comes in together and waves of riders try to get by each other.

The young Spaniard came first in the field sprint.

Appollonio completed a 1-2 on the stage by taking the field sprint for second place.

Weylandt was ninth in the field sprint to finish stage 2 the next day.

Ravard won a large field sprint, a victory which he felt validated his career.

So the 90-mile race - 12 laps of 7.5 miles each - ended in a field sprint at perhaps 45 miles an hour.

He was third in the field sprint, but this made him only sixth on the stage.

Four days later, Cavendish picked up his first win of the year, in a more traditional field sprint.

He had the best position near the front of the peloton in stage 1, which was setting up for a field sprint.

"Some attacks would be nice so we don't have a field sprint," he said.