Britain’s Mark Cavendish won Sunday’s second stage of the Tour de France under a searing sun, as Lance Armstrong finished safely in the trailing pack behind a sprint. Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland retained the race leader’s yellow jersey after the 187-kilometre trek from Monaco to Brignoles, France, and joked about the hot conditions.

“The heat was like you were baking bread ... it was terrible,” Cancellara said on French TV. He recounted how with about an hour left of riding, his team manager said the temperature hit 40 Celsius.

Cavendish clenched his fists and smiled as he crossed the line a split second in front of US rider Tyler Farrar in second and Romain Feillu of France in third. It was the Briton’s fifth Tour stage win.

Armstrong, pre-race favourite Alberto Contador and other possible title contenders were expected to ride cautiously and to avoid crashes in a nervous peloton.

Asked about how the stage went, seven-time Tour champion Armstrong said simply: “Hot” before a long pause. “It’s hard to hydrate. But you know, it’s hot for everybody.”

Cancellara won Saturday’s opening time trial to take the yellow jersey and leads Contador, who is second, by 18 seconds. Bradley Wiggins is third, 19 seconds back, and Armstrong is 10th overall, 40 seconds back.