That was an amazing performance! That pileup happened at around the 25K mark and that group of 8 riders was well off the back of the peloton till about the 10K mark. If I remember the announcers correctly they rejoined the peloton just inside of the 6K mark which means that McEwen would have had to work like mad to make his way to the front of the peloton to be in on the sprint. The announcers pretty much stated that it would be too much for him to do, just moments before he did it.

What makes this so unbelievable is that the peloton didn't sit up and wait for those guys. Quickstep and Lampre were putting the hammer down at the front with other sprinters teams all jockeying for position as well so they were moving pretty well. For him to make up that distance after being so far back was truly incredible. It also means that noboby in the team cars thought to radio to their guys that he had rejoined the peloton because if they had then none of the other sprinters would have been caught so off guard. The view that really worked for me was the overhead shot from the helo. You can see a leadout moving up the left side of the road and then Boonen moves to the right and just begins to move forward when Robbie shoots past him as if he's stuck in cement. Just incredible speed there. On the heels of Cancellara blowing up the TT it's been two great days at the tour, with many more to come I hope.