Briton Mark Cavendish made history on Wednesday July 3 by setting a new record for stage victories in the Tour de France with a 35th success in Saint-Vulbas (Ain).
The 39-year-old Astana sprinter now has one more victory than the great Eddy Merckx, with whom he shared the record until then.
🏛️ A sprint for 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘#TDF2024pic.twitter.com/jg731Qnt2G
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 3, 2024
He won ahead of the Belgian Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin) and the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) at the end of a heated sprint marked by a fall in the final meters.
First victory since 2021
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey at the end of this transition day without impacting the general classification.
The « Cav »who won the Tour for the first time sixteen years ago, had not raised his arms since his victory in Carcassonne in 2021. After his victory, he was congratulated by half the peloton before falling into the arms of his wife and children.
Abandoned last year
Mark Cavendish was forced to abandon last year due to a broken collarbone after a crash during the eleventh stage of what was to be his last Tour de France.
Driven by the ambition of holding this old record alone, he postponed his retirement, signing on for another year under the colours of his Kazakh team.
The 2011 world champion suffered a lot during the first stages in Italy, to the point of vomiting on his bike. But the sprinter from the Isle of Man held on to make history on Wednesday in Ain.
► Ranking of the 5th stage
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/AST) 177.4 km in 4 h 08 : 46.
2. Jasper Philipsen (BEL/ADC) at 0.
3. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/UXT) 0.
4. Arnaud De Lie (BEL/LTD) 0.
5. Fabio Jakobsen (NED/DFP) 0.
6. Pascal Ackermann (GER/IPT) 0.
7. Arnaud Démare (FRA/ARK) 0.
8. Gerben Thijssen (BEL/IWA) 0.
9. Biniam Girmay (ERI/IWA) 0.
10.
► General classification after the 5th stage
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAD) 23 h 15 : 24.
2. Remco Evenepoel (BEL/SOQ) at 45.
3. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/TVL) 50.
4. Juan Ayuso (ESP/UAD) 1:10.
5. Primoz Roglic (SLO/RBH) 1:14.
6. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP/IGD) 1:16.
7. Mikel Landa (ESP/SOQ) 1:32.
8. John Almeida (POR/UAD) 1:32.
9. Giulio Ciccone (ITA/LTK) 3:20.
10. Egan Bernal (COL/IGD) 3:21.
