Britain’s Mark Cavendish claims a fairytale triumph on stage four of the Tour de France

Mark Cavendish celebrated his first Tour de France stage win since 2016 as he sprinted to an emotional victory in Fougeres.

The 36-year-old Manxman collapsed in tears as he was congratulated by his Deceuninck-QuickStep team-mates and rivals alike at the finish of a dramatic stage by which breakaway rider Brent Van Moer was solely denied victory inside 200 metres of the line.

It was a thirty first profession Tour stage win for Cavendish, who additionally gained when the race final got here to Fougeres in 2015.

Mark Cavendish celebrated his first Tour de France stage win since 2016 on Tuesday afternoon

The 36-year-old Manxman collapsed in tears as he was congratulated by his team-mates

It leaves him three behind the all-time wins document, which is held by Belgium’s Eddy Merckx.

The victory caps a fairytale return to the Tour for Cavendish, who feared his profession was over in the winter earlier than capitalising on the lifeline provided to him by Deceuninck-QuickStep.

But the four-time world champion — who by no means even anticipated to be on this 12 months’s race — appeared the class act of the sprinting subject as he rounded Jasper Philipsen and held off Nacer Bouhanni to win by a bike size.

He now strikes into the inexperienced jersey as chief of the factors classification in the course of.

Van Moer, half of a two-man breakaway on the day, had gone out on his personal with 14 kilometres to go, constructing a lead of round a minute which stubbornly refused to drop as the peloton struggled to get organised behind.

But after Cavendish’s staff took up the chase — led by world champion Julian Alaphilippe — Belgian rider Van Moer was lastly reeled in nearby of the line at the finish of the 150.4km stage from Redon.

It was a thirty first profession Tour stage win for Cavendish, who additionally gained in Fougeres again in 2015

It leaves him three behind the all-time wins document, which is held by Belgium’s Eddy Merckx

Cavendish, who has battled demons on and off the bike in recent times, struggled to compose himself in his podium interview.

‘I do not know what to say,’ he mentioned. ‘Just being right here is particular sufficient. I did not assume I might ever get to return again to this race.

‘Fire man, simply hearth from the entire staff. We did not know if we had been going to get them.

‘You simply see what a nice staff that is. You’ve bought the inexperienced jersey, the world champion Julian Alaphilippe coming to do the closing pull simply to attempt to catch the breakaway, placing the whole lot in. So many individuals did not imagine in me however these guys do.’

Cavendish was a late addition to the staff’s Tour squad following an damage for Irishman Sam Bennett however he has grasped the alternative with each fingers.

‘I assumed I used to be by no means coming again to this race. When you come to Deceuninck-QuickStep, they have the greatest riders in the world so it wasn’t a thought for me that I might come right here.

‘But the stars aligned by some means.

‘I might by no means ever need dangerous issues to occur to different individuals however after the final years it is simply good to have good luck for myself.’