Tour de France: Mark Cavendish wins stage six
Meanwhile, Mathieu van der Poel of Ineos Grenadiers retained the GC lead and the yellow jersey
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Your support makes all the difference.Mark Cavendish has won the sixth stage of the Tour de France.
The Manx rider, who cycles for Deceuninck–Quick-Step, also won stage four on Tuesday – his first stage win in five years.
Thursday’s stage six victory was the 32nd for Cavendish in his Tour de France career.
As such, the 36-year-old is now just two behind Eddy Merckx, who holds the all-time record with 34.
Cavendish recorded a time of three hours, 17 minutes and 36 seconds, with Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Fenix narrowly behind in second place and Nacer Bouhanni of ICI ProTeam Arkea–Samsic coming third.
The Manxman, who has battled illness and injury in recent years and feared his career was over last winter, was a late call-up to the Tour this year following an injury to Sam Bennett, but again showed himself to be the class of the sprinting field with many more opportunities ahead.
He remains unbeaten in Chateauroux with wins in 2008, 2011 and this year’s race.
“It was nice. Wow,” said Cavendish, sporting the green jersey. “It seems like every time we finish here, there’s a different line, no?
“It’s 10 years since I last won here. It’s pretty special, and actually in pretty similar fashion today.”
When asked about his chances of matching or beating Merckx’s record, Cavendish said: “Don’t say the name. I am not thinking about anything.
“If it was my first or my 32nd, I have just won a stage of the Tour de France. That is what people ride their whole lives for.
“If I’m good enough to win another 50 or I never win again, so be it – it’s the Tour de France.”
Michael Morkov added of team-mate Cavendish: “He’s back, he’s really back.”
The sprint finish meant no major changes at the top of the general classification, in which Mathieu Van Der Poel continues to lead by eight seconds from defending champion Tadej Pogacar, winner of Wednesday’s time trial.
Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic crossed safely in the pack, but both remain almost two minutes down on Pogacar.
The win keeps Cavendish in the points leader’s green jersey, with his advantage growing from 15 points to 46 as Philipsen climbed up to second place in the classification.
GC after stage six:
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix)
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
3. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep)
5. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana)
6. Pierre Latour (Total-Energies)
7. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education Nippo)
8. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma)
9. Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers)
10. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)
PA contributed to this report.
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