Photo by Kathleen Nelson

Mark Cavendish of American team Columbia thundered across the finishing line Monday afternoon in Kansas City, winning the first stage of the second Tour of Missouri.

The victory was Cavendish’s 15th of the season on the road, which includes four stage wins at the Tour de France, three at the Tour of Ireland and two at the Giro d’Italia. He also won 11 times last season and has 28 wins in just two years as a pro.

“He’s a rocket, definitely the fastest in the world,” said defendingToM yellow jersey winner and Columbia teammate Big George Hincapie. “Bunch finishes can be a little hectic, and you can’t say he’ll always win, but he’s showed he can do a lot faster sprint than anyone else.”

The Tour of Missouri, with the hills of the Ozarks passing as the nearest thing we have to mountains, is perfectly suited for a sprint specialist such as Cavendish, who can ride behind teammates in the draft and roll over the speed bumps in Missouri without much difficulty, then steamroll the opposition in the bunch sprints at the end.

“The majority are flat stages, and that makes it easier for me to win here,” said Cavendish, whose self-assurance is one of his more charming qualities. But don’t confuse his self-confidence and self-assurance with selfishness; Cavendish recognizes and pays tribute to the contribution of his Columbia teammates in propelling him to the finishing line.

On Monday, Columbia’s big blue train reeled in the day’s only threatening breakaway — Bissell’s Tom Zirbel, Jonathan Sundt of Kelly Benefit-Medifast and Martin Kohler of BMC got about a 5-minute lead halfway through the 90-mile stage — and later Columbia rode at the front for the entire last circuit in Kansas City to deliver Cavendish to the last 300 meters, where the sprinters’ show begins.

“We showed how dominant we are holding the lead for the last lap,” Cavendish said. “When you have a team like we have, it’s hard to beat me.”

While some interpret such statements as cockiness, Cavendish delivers them almost matter-of-factly and oftentimes with a a huge smile. On Monday, he even drew a chuckle from second-place finisher Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Chipotle in the postrace news conference when he summed up their previous head-to-head meetings by saying, “I’ve won every time,” delivered in a Ringo Starr sort of way.

“He’s such a good kid,” Columbia owner Bob Stapleton said. “He’s really good, and he’s still a kid. The fun part is he’s still kind of wide-eyed, and his youthful exuberance rubs off on everybody.”

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