Tour de France: Mark Cavendish takes 29th stage win

Yet the 31-year-old claims it didn’t even cross his mind that he had surpassed Hinault in the Le Tour victories list, his focus instead being on family matters.

The Manx Missile edged out Marcel Kittel to the line to take Stage Six to win for the third time this year.

After Wednesday’s explosive stage in the Massif Central, the sprinters got another shot at a stage win on Thursday.

“I had some good help, three guys. There were no aerodynamic bikes, no skin suits or aerodynamic helmets”, said the Briton, who was national champion in 2013.

“You just have to make what works for you work”.

Cavendish’s third win of the 2016 Tour came ahead of Germany’s Marcel Kittel, and a fine third place for British Tour debutant Dan McLay – his fourth top-10 finish of his opening Tour.

Kittel launched first and Cavendish followed, the two going shoulder-to-shoulder down the center of the road.

“He knew where he needed to be and when. I felt Kittel coming on my side at the end again and just did to him what he’s done to me the last three years and held him at it, so I’m very happy with that”. The Dimension Data rider proved to be the strongest and was able to out-kick the German to capture Tour stage win number 29.

But the sprints in this race have not suited him, with twisty finishes either on a slight incline or decline.

“I don’t give a shit what people say”, he said with trademark defiance.

“We have all those small roads and corners”. “Every team was struggling to hold their wheel and it was pure chaos”.

Cavendish and McLay congratulate each other.

The track work has built up his strength, though Cavendish himself said it may have hurt his endurance – something that will be tested as the Tour heads to the mountains this weekend.

Kittel opened up the sprint, but Cavendish had the greater power of the two and won the stage by half a wheel.

“(The sprint train) was a disaster today.

It was a insane end to the race in Montauban none of the trains seemed to be on track so Mark Cavendish got on the wheel of arch-rival Germany’s Marcel Kittel and then simply swooped round him in the home straight with 150m to go. I was fighting and fighting for Kittel’s wheel.