Australian Robbie McEwen has won the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race and dedicated his win to a mate who died recently.

McEwen, who claimed his earliest stage win on the race compared to previous years, was delighted at having staked his claim for success so soon.

But he was quick to dedicate his victory to a recently deceased former team-mate who was being buried the same day.

The 32-year-old from Brisbane, who has lived in Belgium for several years and speaks fluent Flemish, said he had been thinking about 28-year-old Steve Vermaut who died suddenly from a heart attack on June 30.

"I want to dedicate this win to an ex team-mate of mine, Steve Vermaut, who was being buried today," said McEwen, who also had a special mention for his Lotto teammate Nick Gates, forced out of the race on Sunday with a knee injury.

Sprinter Thor Hushovd has made history by becoming the first Norwegian to pull on the Tour de France yellow jersey after finishing the 197km second stage between Charleroi and Namur behind McEwen.

Hushovd, who has had a blistering season so far winning several legs of the French Cup, took the jersey from prologue winner Fabian Cancellara after starting the stage only four seconds behind the young Swiss time-trial specialist in the general classification.

The 26-year-old Hushovd, from Grimstad in Norway, admitted he had just fulfilled a childhood dream.

"It's been a dream of mine to wear the yellow jersey for a long time, for the past 15 years," said the stockily-built sprinter, who finished third behind McEwen on Sunday's opening stage and put down a great time in the opening prologue where he finished only 10secs behind Cancellara.

"Ever since the prologue I knew I could win the yellow jersey. Yesterday I was close, I was fighting for the bonus sprints but Cancellara managed to hold on. But today I finally did it."

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