Mark Cavendish creates history with record 35th win at Tour de ...

Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) claimed the outright record of stage victories at the Tour de France with a stunning and emotional sprint win on Stage 5.

The Manx Missile now boasts an astonishing 35 wins at the Tour, moving him one clear of Belgian great Eddy Merckx in the all-time standings.

Cavendish postponed his retirement to have one final shot at the Tour, having abandoned injured in 2023, and produced arguably his greatest moment aged 39.

His Astana team was assembled to deliver Cavendish glory at the Tour. One of his former lead-out lieutenants Mark Renshaw was in the sports director's car, while another guided him into the optimal position for the finale. All involved did a sensational job in the finale to navigate their leader through the chaos.

And when Cavendish took off, it evoked memories of his dominant wins of old. It was not faster legs than the rest but superior racecraft, a thousand miles per hour brain, and immaculate positioning that meant he crossed the line unopposed, lifting his arms aloft as the party began.

There was little to no interest in the breakaway. A few teams joked about in the opening kilometers, with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Mathieu van de Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck) and Tim Declerq among those feigning attacks and causing faux alarm among sports directors.

Seemingly under some duress two French riders, Clement Russo (Groupama-FDJ) and Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies) took themselves off for a day up the road. Through the valley, between the mountains, along the river, they were given four minutes and a bit more of advantage. A few hours of TV time, some attention for their sponsors, before the sprinters' teams took up the task of reeling them in. A classified speed bump ahead of the intermediate sprint, provided a minor moment of racing interest.

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The intermediate sprint at Aoste, two thirds into the stage, was keenly contested by the likes of Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R), Mads Pederson (Lidl-Trek) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche.) Not, notably, by Mark Cavendish, who had a one-track mind.

The organisation for the Saint Vulbas finale began earlier than it often does, with Cavendish's Astana staking a strong claim for the right hand side of the road. His team-mates believed in him and only left his company when they had nothing left to offer.

The stage, which had been conducted at a below slowest schedule of 38kph, picked up speed. Spent, one by one colleagues of the favourites fell away. Some sprint days have seen Cavendish drop back, but this time he was never out of the six. Nor did he put his nose in the wind before it was time.

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And when it was time he made it count. The wheel of Pascal Ackermann (Israel-PremierTeck) was the one Cavendish picked to follow on the right, refusing to be nudged off it by the sharp elbows of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck.) One hundred metres from the line he took a glance over his left shoulder, swung across the road into clear air, and raised his arms to the skies. No photo finish necessary, he won by more than a bike length.

It was brains not braun, vintage not vulgar, Cavendish at his brilliant best. For the 35th time in his career he was in the right place, at the right time, in the biggest bike of them all.

Cavendish in a 'little bit of disbelief' after claiming Tour de France record

Afterwards Cavenish described himself as being "in disbelief," and paid tribute to his employers and his team-mates, all of him had to believe for it to be possible and to commit themselves and so much of their season to the singular cause:

"Astana gambled on the Tour de France this year," he said. "We gambled on winning one stage. That's a big gamble for my boss Alexandre Vinokourov, but we went all in and we done it. We did exactly what we wanted to do to every detail, all the equipment, specifically today... It doesn't mean we're top of the UCI rankings but the Tour de France is bigger than cycling."

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) who narrowly avoided crashing 59km from the finish, safely completed his second day in yellow. Monday's stage winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) took over the green jersey thanks to a ninth place finish on the stage.