Baden Cooke's victory in the second stage of the Tour de France on Monday ended a wait of almost a year.

He missed out by the width of a tyre before bowing to compatriot Robbie McEwen in the last sprint of the 2002 Tour on the Champs Elysees.

Now, at 23, the sprinter with the worst reputation in the bunch has made it at last and the win could not have come at a better time.

His friend and FDJeux.com team mate Bradley McGee has been leading the Tour since day one and Australia has become the top nation in the world's greatest cycling race.

For Cooke, victory was all the sweeter as he had been criticised by fellow sprinters for being dangerous after he was involved in a bad crash in the Dauphine Libere shortly before the Tour.

"Obviously, since the Dauphine crash, I knew that I'd be blamed for any crash. So for sure there are guys who blamed me for yesterday's fall. But I was not anywhere near," he said.

A nasty crash in Sunday's final stretch involved dozens of riders including four times champion Lance Armstrong.

"I have a lot of respect for sprinters like McEwen or Erik Zabel. I know I've made mistakes in the past but I come from a school of racing in which you rub your shoulders much more than in Europe, Cooke said.

"I've learnt lessons and calmed down now," he added.

MCGEE HELP

Yellow jersey wearer McGee tried to lead the sprint to the finish in Sedan for his team mate but could not make it near him and finally gave up.

But Cooke was strong enough to win on his own and now lies third overall, only four seconds behind his friend. Another good placing in a sprint finish would allow him to rob McGee of the yellow jersey.

"I'm really happy for Baden. This win, we had talked about it for 12 months, ever since he finished second on the Champs-Elysees," said McGee.

Cooke was delighted that McGee had tried to help him in his bid for a stage victory.

"It's great that a rider of his calibre, with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, should lead me in the sprints," the 24-year-old said.

"And even if I took the jersey off him, I'm sure he would not mind and keep helping me a lot."

McGee agreed: "If I should lose my jersey, I'd rather lose it to a friend so that it stays in the team."

Both riders from Down Under said the mood in the team was the reason for FDJeux.com's current success.

"There's a great atmosphere in the team. It's necessary on the Tour. With the stress and weariness, if something goes wrong a team can split if the atmosphere is not right," McGee said. 

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