Tour De France, 2007, Stage 2 Preview: So Long, England; Hello Belgium

One sub-plot that develops early every year at the Tour de France is whether one sprinter can dominate the race.

Australian powerhouse Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) won stage 1 on Sunday. But can he repeat today, then later first week of the Tour's long, flat stages. Can he also win again in flat stages in the race's third week?

With stage 2, the field will encounter a 168.5-kilometer (104.7-mile) journey across the French border into Belgium. The day begins in Dunkirk, an historic city where the Tour dates to 1911. It ends in Ghent, a infrequent Tour stop in the past 50 years.

Six years ago, the Tour last visited Dunkirk, likely most well-known historically because of the evacuation of allied troops in the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940. Fast-forward nearly 70 years and Dunkirk is a thriving, large industrial city and home to the third-largest harbor in France.

Christophe Moreau (AG2R-Prevoyance) of France won the 2001 prologue in Dunkirk with a three-second margin over Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano of Spain. Lance Armstrong, en route to his third-straight title, was third in the prologue, followed by long-time nemesis Jan Ullirch of Germany.

Armstrong, Ullrich and a majority of the top-10 prologue finishers in 2001 are now retired, But Moreau, now 36, is an overall title contender this year.

Moreau, however, is unlikely to be in the front-runners' mix Monday as the stage progresses in an bottom-to-top "S" route. The riders will advance inland and then return to close to the North Sea about halfway through the stage in Westende-Bad for the first of two sprint lines. The overall stage route is flat (it never rises more than 36 meters above sea level) and it will likely be fast.

Early Tour stages are also ripe for solo or small-group breakaway attempts, and it could happen in stage 2. The riders will spent a few hours negotiating the flatlands of Flanders, one of cycling's European capitals and maybe the day's geography will entice a Belgian rider or two to go off the front.

The last time a Tour stage ended in Ghent, French sprinter Andre Darrigade was victorious over home country favorites Jos Hoevenaers and Joseph Planckaert in stage 1 from Brussels. The trio finished about two minutes ahead of the main group. In 1951, when stage 2 from Reims ended in Ghent, Bim Diedrich of Luxembourg rode to nearly a four-minute solo win.

If a breakaway doesn't succeed, McEwen and his key rivals, including Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) of Norway, Tom Boonen (Quick-Step-Innergetic) of Belgium and Oscar Freire (Rabobank) of Spain will likely find their way to the front in last few hundred meters.

If McEwen wins again, however, he will only be one-quarter of the way toward the record for stages wins in one Tour. Charles Pelissier of France (1930), Eddy Merckx of Belgium (1970 and 1974) and compatriot Freddy Maertens (1976) all won eight stages in one year.