[themaclad]

Biniam Girmay made history as the first black African to win a Tour de France stage as Mark Cavendish was held up by a late crash on the run into Turin.

In a reduced sprint finish, Eritrea's Girmay powered to victory, with Colombia's Fernando Gaviria and Belgium's Arnaud de Lie in second and third.

All the pre-race talk had been around whether Cavendish could claim a record 35th stage win, but a crash just over 2km from the line on the 230.8km route from Piacenza left many riders - including the Manxman - out of position.

Meanwhile, Richard Carapaz became the first Ecuadorian to wear the yellow jersey based on accumulated finishing positions over the first three stages, with Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard also on the same time as the EF Education-EasyPost rider in the general classification.

At the finish an emotional Girmay, 24 - who won his first Grand Tour stage at the Giro d'Italia in 2022 - outlined the importance of his achievement.

"I would say thanks to God for everything, for giving me all the strength and support," Girmay said.

"Since I started cycling I was never dreaming to be part of the Tour de France but now I can't believe it. I want to say thank you to my family, my wife, Eritrea and Africa.

"We must be proud. Now we are part of the big races and have success. Now is our moment, now is our time. This for all Africa"

Cavendish and his Astana-Qazaqstan team-mates were on the right side of the road as riders jostled for position in the closing stages of the race and the 39-year-old said he was just happy to emerge unscathed, having crashed out of the race 12 months ago on stage eight.

"Something was going to happen," Cavendish said. "You could feel it but you didn't know where or when. I heard it happening ahead so you're on the brakes, you skid and you wait for somebody to hit you from behind.

"Thankfully we were OK and I don't think anyone was seriously hurt. You don't want anybody to crash but I don't think anyone was seriously hurt so that's very good news. We didn't sprint but we're safe and that's the main thing."

On Tuesday, the race heads into the Alps as the Tour takes in the mighty Col du Galibier on the mountainous 139.6km route from Pinerolo to Valloire.

Stage three results
1. Biniam Girmay (Eri/Intermarche-Wanty) 5hrs 26mins 48secs

2. Fernando Gaviria (Col/Movistar) Same time

3. Arnaud de Lie (Bel/Lotto Dstny) "

4. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) "

5. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/Jayco-AlUla) "

6. Phil Bauhaus (Ger/Bahrain Victorious) "

7. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned/DSM-firmenich-PostNL) "

8. Davide Ballerini (ITA/Astana-Qazaqstan) "

9. Sam Bennett (Ire/Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) "

10. Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis) "

General classification after stage three
1. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) 15hrs 20mins 18secs

2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) Same time

3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick-Step) "

4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) "

5. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM-firmenich PostNL) +6secs

6. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) +21secs

7. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) Same time

8. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) "

9. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) "

10. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe)

[themaclad]

Pogacar

[ritchiebaby]

Pog dominated today's stage, but it's still a long way to go. I only got the second half of ITV4's highlights show.

[themaclad]

Tadej Pogacar regained the leader's yellow jersey in thrilling fashion as he soloed clear to win stage four of the Tour de France.

On the first big mountain stage of the Tour, Pogacar produced an explosive attack 800 metres from the summit of the iconic Col du Galibier and extended his lead on the 20km descent to the line, putting time into all his general classification rivals.

Remco Evenepoel was second to reach the finish on the 139.6km route from Pinerolo to Valloire, some 35 seconds down, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard 37 seconds back in fifth.

"It was more or less the plan and we executed it pretty well - I'm super happy. It was like a dream stage and I finished it off so well," Pogacar said.

"I wanted to hit hard today and I knew this stage very well. I've trained here a lot of times and it felt like a home stage. I was confident in the start and I had good legs."

Slovenia's Pogacar, 25, now leads Evenepoel by 45 seconds in the GC standings, with Vingegaard five seconds further adrift in third.

Richard Carapaz, who led the race overnight, lost more than five minutes and is now 22nd overall.

With the race taking an early incursion into the Alps as it moved from Italy to France, this was a statement performance from Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates.

Denmark's Vingegaard and Visma–Lease a Bike (previously Jumbo-Visma) have dominated the past two editions of the Tour.

However, this year will feel like the perfect opportunity to redress the balance, with Vingegaard and Wout van Aert both competing after missing a significant block of training and preparation following serious early-season crashes.

Joao Almeida and Juan Ayuso in particular, superbly raised the pace for Pogacar up the 23km ascent of the Galibier, whittling down the GC group until the Slovenian elected to make his move.

While Vingegaard, who had been left isolated without any team support, was quick to respond, a second acceleration meant Pogacar opened a seven-second gap, which he extended on the twisty descent to the finish.

Stage four results
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 3hrs 46mins 48secs

2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick-Step) +35secs

3. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) Same time

4. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) "

5. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +37secs

6. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time

7. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick-Step) +53secs

8. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) Same time

9. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +2mins 41secs

10. Santiago Buitrago (Col/Bahrain Victorious) Same time

General classification after stage four
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 19hrs 06mins 38secs

2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +45secs

3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +50secs

4. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 10secs

5. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 14secs

6. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +1mins 16secs

7. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +1min 32secs

8. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 32secs

9. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 20secs

10. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) +3mins 21secs

[themaclad]

Cavendish

[ritchiebaby]

What do I know? I know nahsing to quote a Spanish waiter.

I bow to Cav's superior strength, fitness, race craft, desire and commitment. All credit to Astana as well for giving him the chance to do it when others wouldn't. A very composed interview going on now. Glad I got to see it live (with 20 minutes to spare).

[theo_luddite]

Didn't see it but well done to Cav for beating the legend that is Eddy Merckx’s 34 stage wins. As a kid I'd only ever heard of Merckx and Beryl Burton as far as cycling was concerned.

[themaclad]

Well Beryl was from Yarkshire

Mark Cavendish broke the Tour de France stage wins record as he took his 35th victory in cycling's greatest race to surpass the legendary Eddy Merckx with a sensational sprint finish in Saint Vulbas.

Contesting what is expected to be his final Tour, the 39-year-old burst clear in a dramatic finale to stage five and raised his arms in celebration as he crossed the line victorious, before being embraced by his team.

The historic achievement comes one year after Cavendish suffered a race-ending crash on stage eight, one day after being pipped to a record-breaking victory by Jasper Philipsen.

"You sprint and go as hard as you can until you get to the finish and maybe your life changes if you cross that line first, maybe it doesn't if you don't. That is the nature of this race and what makes it so beautiful," Cavendish told ITV.

Cavendish had jointly held the record for most Tour stage wins with Belgian Merckx since winning his 34th stage in 2021.

Last year was supposed to be his 14th and final Tour, but the dream of ending his career with the outright Tour stage record motivated him to make another comeback.

Delaying his retirement plans by one more year, Cavendish, already regarded as the best sprinter of all time, has earned the prize he desperately sought.

The Briton had feared his career was drawing to a close and battles with illness, injuries and depression contributed to him not winning once during 2019 and 2020.

But he returned to the Belgian Quick Step team in 2021 to win four stages at that year's Tour.

Left out of the 2022 Tour and seemingly out of contract at the end of that year, he joined Astana Qazaqstan at the last minute for 2023.

With his race abruptly ended after he sustained a broken collarbone in a crash when on the verge of history last year, the Manx Missile decided he could not allow his career to end there.

And so, in Saint Vulbas, with a trademark dash to the line, Cavendish achieved the record-breaking moment that has long felt his destiny.

Tour race director Christian Prudhomme said: "Everyone has a smile today - even Eddy Merckx.

"Everybody thought it was too late but him. It is a wonderful story. He is the yellow jersey of the sprinters."

Cavendish immortalised in Tour history
Mark Cavendish celebrates winning his 35th stage at the Tour de France
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption,
Mark Cavendish accelerated to a top speed of 69.4 kilometres per hour in the sprint

After Tuesday's ascent of the iconic Col du Galibier, stage five offered the contenders for the overall race respite as they rode the relatively flat 177.4 km route from Saint Jean de Maurienne to Saint Vulbas.

And it offered Cavendish his latest shot at history - later revealing this was the stage he and his Astana Qazaqstan team had been "specifically" preparing for.

Groupama-FDJ rider Clement Russo and Matteo Vercher of Total Energies were the only riders to attempt a move on stage five, but their four-and-a-half-minute advantage was quickly reduced as the sprint teams took charge in the peloton.

There was a nervous moment for race leader Tadej Pogacar, who narrowly escaped disaster by swerving a traffic island at the last minute, as several riders suffered crashes but nobody was seriously injured.

Slovenia's Pogacar, 25, retained the leader's yellow jersey which he reclaimed by taking victory on stage four, 45 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel in the General Classification standings with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard five seconds further adrift.

Once the GC teams had delivered their leaders into the safety of the final few kilometres, the frantic push to the finish line unfolded and Astana Qazaqstan always appeared well-organised before Cavendish made his historic move.

With his 165th career victory, achieved fittingly as he held his nerve and picked his moment, Cavendish is now immortalised in the race's history as the Tour's greatest ever stage winner - sixteen years after he opened his record-breaking Tour de France love affair on the fifth stage of the 2008 race.

Reacting to Cavendish's historic win, former team-mate and good friend Geraint Thomas said: "It's unbelievable, I am super happy for him. It is great he has the record alone and is not sharing it with anyone.

"I said, 'Mate, if you win this stage just drop your bike and walk away' - but he was like, 'If I win the first one, I'll want to win more'. So he’s definitely going to hang around, isn't he."

Stage six on Thursday provides the sprinters with another opportunity on a flat 163.5km route from Macon to Dijon, which concludes with a 800m-straight finish.

[themaclad]

Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen clinched victory in a thrilling photo finish to win stage six of the Tour de France.

The flat 163.5km route from Macon to Dijon was always likely to end in a bunch sprint, following Mark Cavendish's record-breaking victory a day earlier.

But the British rider, 39, finished out of contention in Thursday's sprint and was unable to add to Wednesday's 35th stage win on the Tour, which took him clear of Eddy Merckx for the outright record.

Team Jayco–AlUla's Groenewegen, 31, made a late surge for the line to beat Jasper Philipsen by little more than a wheel trim.

That gave Groenewegen the sixth stage win of his career and his first since 2022, his first year with his Australian team.

Alpecin-Deceuninck's Philipsen was later relegated to 107th place for shifting his line and blocking Wout van Aert during the the final 150m.

There was no change at the top of the general classification standings so Tadej Pogacar remains the leader, 45 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard five seconds further adrift in third.

Dylan Groenewegen lunges for the line to beat Jasper Philipsen and win stage six of the 2024 Tour de France
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption,
Dylan Groenewegen (furthest right) lunged for the line to beat Jasper Philipsen (furthest left)

Astana Qazaqstan's sporting director Mark Renshaw said after Cavendish's win on Wednesday that coming into this year's Tour, which is expected to be the Manx Missile's last, the team felt that Thursday's stage would be his best opportunity to clinch the record.

Having sealed the deal on stage five, it means Cavendish now has the chance to increase his record before finally calling it quits.

With just one climb on the stage, it promised to be a relatively straightforward ride through the vineyards of Burgundy, and so it proved for the most part.

Cavendish did show some frustration after the first of two stoppages because of mechanical issues, but he managed to safely rejoin the peloton long before it picked up the pace rolling into Dijon.

He was well placed before the Uno-X Mobility team hit the front but Astana started to fall back with less than 2km remaining and, as the race entered the 800m dash to the line, Cavendish had drifted out of contention.

Mathieu van der Poel led out team-mate Philipsen, who then hit the front before Groenewegen - sporting sunglasses that feature an aerodynamic beak - and stage three winner Biniam Girmay came back at the Belgian.

Philipsen looked to have held them off but it needed a photo to split them, which showed that Groenewegen had timed his lunge for the line to perfection to win it by little more than the width of his wheel trim.

Philipsen was later penalised for forcing Van Aert to slow down as they raced along the barriers.

The race continues on Friday with an individual time trial over 25.3km from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Gevrey-Chambertin.

Stage six result
1. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/Team Jayco-AlUla) 3hrs 31mins 55secs

2. Biniam Girmay (Eri/Intermarche-Wanty) Same time

3. Fernando Gaviria (Col/Movistar)

4. Phil Bauhaus (Ger/Bahrain Victorious)

5. Arnaud de Lie (Bel/Lotto Dstny)

6. Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike)

7. Arnaud Demare (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels)

8. Alexander Kristoff (Nor/Uno-X Mobility)

9. Pascal Ackermann (Ger/Israel-Premier Tech)

10. Piet Allegaert (Bel/Cofidis)

General classification standings
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 26hrs 47mins 19secs

2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +45secs

3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +50secs

4. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 10secs

5. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 14secs

6. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +1mins 16secs

7. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +1min 32secs

8. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 32secs

9. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 20secs

10. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) +3mins 21secs

[themaclad]

Remco Evenepoel claimed his first victory at the Tour de France in stage seven's individual time-trial as Tadej Pogacar held on to the leader's yellow jersey.

The Belgian, who is the current world time trial champion, underlined his credentials as one of the favourites in the general classification, with a superb run on 25.3km course to finish 12 seconds ahead of Slovenia's Pogacar.

Evenepoel, 24, who thought he had suffered a puncture on the approach towards the finish in Gevrey-Chambertin, is now just 33 seconds behind Pogacar overall.

Another Slovenian, Primoz Roglic was third 34 seconds down, while defending champion Jonas Vingegaard conceded 37 seconds in fourth.

The Dane now trails by one minute and 15 seconds in the GC after also losing time on stage four.

Simon Yates was the top-placed British rider in the time-trial, finishing 1:33 behind Evenepoel.

The stage win gives Evenepoel, who is wearing the white jersey as the best young rider in the race so far, stage victories in all three Grand Tours.

"It's crazy. I enjoyed every metre of this time trial and coming out with the win was simply amazing," said the Soudal-Quick Step rider.

"We wanted a stage win, and that is done. It's a perfect day for me and my team. Mission accomplished. As for the rest of the Tour de France, I believe Tadej is going to be unreachable. But this is cycling, you never know what can happen.

"I think the further into the race we go, the better I will feel, so I'll focus more on the podium because I feel I have the legs for it."

Before Friday's stage Pogacar had forecast that Evenepoel would be the man to beat in a discipline he excels in.

However, the two-time winner produced a determined ride of his own to extend his advantage over Roglic and Vingegaard, who will now see the mountain stages as their best opportunity to regain ground.

"I can be satisfied," Pogacar said.

"I would have loved to have taken a stage win today but against Remco it's a bit tough. But I gained time on Primoz [Roglic] and Jonas [Vingegaard] and the other guys so I can be really happy."

On Saturday, the Tour will take a lumpy 183.4km route from Semur-en-Auxois to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises.

Tour de France stage seven results
Stage seven results 1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) 28mins 52secs

2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +12secs

3. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +34secs

4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +37secs

5. Victor Campenaerts (Bel/Lotto-dstny) +52secs

6. Kevin Vauquelin (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels) Same time

7. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) +54secs

8. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +57secs

9. Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) +59secs

10. Stefan Kung (Swi/Groupama - FDJ) +1min

General classification after stage seven
GC: 1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 27hrs 16mins 23secs

2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +33secs

3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15secs

4. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 36secs

5. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 16secs

6. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 17secs

7. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 31secs

8. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +3mins 35secs

9. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) 4mins 03secs

10. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) +4mins 46secs