British sprinter Mark Cavendish has won the fifth stage of this year’s Tour de France, making him the record winner of the Tour de France. In his 15th participation, the 39-year-old professional won a stage of the world’s toughest cycling race for the 35th time in total, more than anyone before him. Until now, Cavendish shared the record with Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx, who collected 34 stage wins.
Cavendish beat all of his competitors in a mass sprint on the 177.4-kilometer section from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas. “It’s incredible, a dream has come true. A great moment,” said Cavendish. He almost dropped out of the race on Saturday after barely making it to the finish line in the Italian heat, just under the time limit. “I felt really miserable,” he said.
During the fifth stage on Wednesday, it rained intermittently, which led to isolated crashes. All those affected were able to continue the race, and the favorites for the overall victory remained unscathed. The yellow jersey is therefore still worn by the Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, who is in third place in the overall ranking, 45 seconds ahead of the second-placed Belgian Remco Evenepoel and 50 seconds ahead of last year’s Danish winner Jonas Vingegaard.
There could also be a sprint finish on the sixth stage of the 111th Tour de France tomorrow, Thursday. The flat stage runs over 163.5 kilometers without any major difficulties from Mâcon to Dijon and ends with an 800-meter-long finish straight.
Tour de France 2024
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British sprinter Mark Cavendish has won the fifth stage of this year’s Tour de France, making him the record winner of the Tour de France. In his 15th participation, the 39-year-old professional won a stage of the world’s toughest cycling race for the 35th time in total, more than anyone before him. Until now, Cavendish had shared the record with Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx, who collected 34 stage wins.
Cavendish beat all of his competitors in a mass sprint on the 177.4-kilometer section from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas. “It’s incredible, a dream has come true. A great moment,” said Cavendish. He almost dropped out of the race on Saturday after barely making it to the finish line in the Italian heat, just under the time limit. “I felt really miserable,” he said.
