(Saint-Vulbas) Briton Mark Cavendish made history on Wednesday by setting a new record for stage wins in the Tour de France with a 35e success in Saint-Vulbas.
The 39-year-old Astana sprinter has one more victory than the great Eddy Merckx, with whom he shared the record until now.
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.
Slovenian Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey at the end of this transitional day without any interest for 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.
He had to withdraw last year due to a broken collarbone after a fall during the 11th round.e stage of what was to be his last Tour de France.
But, 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 badly during the difficult 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.