[ritchiebaby]

And Cavendish does it again - the fairytale return continues! There might be a delay as Cavendish could be accused of cutting off another rider in the last few metres, but who would dare to rob him of a famous victory? Two stage wins in a row and there's more winnable stages to come. 32 stage wins in all, including 3 in today's finish in Chateauroux and looking for the all-time record.

The breakaway came to nothing, a bit disappointing, but there were probably team orders involved.

[themaclad]

Mark Cavendish's resurgence continued as he claimed his 32nd stage win at the Tour de France to move closer to the all-time record of 34 held by Belgian legend Eddy Merckx.

Cavendish powered past Jasper Philipsen and Nacer Bouhanni to collect his second stage win at this year's race.

It is the third time that Cavendish has won in Chateauroux, the scene of his very first victory at the Tour in 2008.

Mathieu van der Poel finished in the peloton to retain the yellow jersey.

Cavendish is 'really back'
While the general classification battle will step up as the race heads into the Alps this weekend, the flat 160.6km route from Tours to Chateauroux favoured the sprinters, and Cavendish in particular.

On the wide boulevard into the line, the Manx rider displayed his nous and speed to hop off the wheel of his Deceuninck-Quick-Step lead-out man Michael Morkov and sweep past both Philipsen and his Alpecin-Fenix team-mate Tim Merlier.

Such was Cavendish's margin of victory that he even had time to recreate his hands-on-head celebration from 13 years ago - his maiden Tour stage win.

"Wow. It's 10 years since my last win here. It's pretty special," said Cavendish, who also won in Chateauroux in 2011.

"Michael [Morkov] left me space on the left to go but I wanted just a split second longer in the wheels so I had to switch trains.

"But you see the guys, how much they pull. You've got the world champion Julian Alaphilippe just burying himself in the last kilometres, it's something special. I'm buzzing now."

His performance led to more emotional scenes at the finish, with Morkov telling reporters "he's back, he's really back".

Cavendish, who has battled illness and injury in recent years, feared his career was coming to an end last winter when he was left without a team.

But having replaced the injured 2020 green jersey winner Sam Bennett just days before the Tour was due to start, he is making the most of his opportunity to return to the limelight at the age of 36.

With several sprint stages remaining in the race, Cavendish's second victory in three days brings Merckx's 46-year-old record for stage victories into view.

"I am not thinking about anything," Cavendish said. "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."

Stage six results
Mark Cavendish (GB/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 3hrs 17mins 36secs
Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Fenix) Same time
Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Arkea Samsic)
Arnaud Demare (Fra/ Groupama - FDJ)
Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe)
Cees Bol (Ned/DSM)
Tim Merlier (Bel/Alpecin-Fenix)
Wout Van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma)
Michael Matthews (Aus/BikeExchange)
Mads Pedersen (Den/Trek-Segafredo
General classification after stage six

Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Fenix) 20hrs 09mins 17secs
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +8secs
Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) +30secs
Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Deceuninck-QuickStep) +48secs
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +1min 21secs
Pierre Latour (Fra/Total-Energies) +1mins 28secs
Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education Nippo) +1min 29secs
Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) +1min 43secs
Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) +1min 44secs
Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) +1min 48secs
Selected other

12. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +1min 54secs

[ritchiebaby]

Tomorrow's stage is a long, hard slog of 249.1km from Vierzon to Le Creusot. The first two-thirds is fairly innocuous with an intermediate sprint at 115km, but it then becomes interesting with 5 categorised climbs in 80km, followed by a run to the finish of 8km.

The Peter Sagan of old would have relished this stage by being in a large, organised, early breakaway for both the intermediate sprint and being there or thereabouts towards the finish. Thomas De Ghent would have been an ideal lieutenant and he would be suited to a long day in a breakaway.

Alaphilippe and Pogacar will surely attack on the Category 2 climb 18km from home to cause a bit of mayhem among some of the GC contenders. If he's still in the reckoning, van Aert might be tempted to try for a late charge up the final Category 4 climb to steal a march on his GC rivals.

One thing is certain - there will be lots of attacks in the later parts of this stage. Speed downhill will be just as important as speed uphill. Thrills and spills might be the order of the day.

[ritchiebaby]

I was right about two things today - mayhem in the GC competition and lots of attacks. The stage was won in impressive style by Matej Mohoric who was 1m20s clear of Jasper Stuyven. It was almost boring watching them dominate the big names, with all the action happening behind them in various groups.

Van der Poel and van Aert are still close at the top, but Pogacar and especially Roglic were the big losers today.

Cavendish picked up maximium sprint points to increase his lead to 65 points. Mohoric is the new leader in the Polka Dot competition.

[themaclad]

Slovenia's Matej Mohoric took a fine solo victory on stage seven of the Tour de France as Mathieu van der Poel extended his lead in the yellow jersey.

Mohoric, 26, was in a group that went clear with 50km to go before he powered to a first Tour stage success.

Van der Poel, also in the break, was not chased by defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who should still regain time in the Alpine stages over the weekend.

The Dutchman now leads Wout van Aert by 30 seconds on general classification.

Bahrain Victorious rider Mohoric has now won stages at all three Grand Tours - the Tour, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana.

He rode a superb race, kicking clear of the three other riders in the leading group on the toughest climb of the day with just under 20km remaining, to finish one minute and 20 seconds ahead of Jasper Stuyven in Le Creusot.

"I knew it was a good stage for me and I saw there was only one more stage after this that suits me so I focused on this," said Mohoric.

"I've won at the Giro and Vuelta but this is the Tour, it's the biggest race, so this is something else."

Britain's Mark Cavendish, who claimed his 32nd stage and second of the race on Thursday, won the intermediate sprint to extend his lead in the green points jersey to 65 points over Van der Poel.

Van der Poel finished fourth on the stage, 1:40 down on Mohoric, but 3:35 ahead of Pogacar, who dropped to fifth overall, behind Kasper Asgreen and Mohoric.

Pogacar will be content to concede time to riders such as Van der Poel and Van Aert, who he will not view as overall contenders, because it means less time having to defend the lead.

His UAE Team Emirates squad fell away as the teams of the other overall favourites upped the pace, though the Slovenian was still able to finish in the peloton.

However, compatriot and last year's runner-up Primoz Roglic struggled badly, having been injured in crashes during the first few days.

He is now down in 33rd place, over nine minutes behind Van der Poel.

Ineos Grenadiers' Richard Carapaz launched a long-range attack once Roglic was in trouble, but he was shut down by Movistar and failed to gain any time.

The Ecuadorian is now 12th overall, 5:19 down, with Welsh team-mate Geraint Thomas one place and 10 seconds further back.

A large shake-up of the general classification is expected over the weekend, with two tough mountain stages to come before Monday's first rest day.

Stage seven results

Matej Mohoric (Slo/Bahrain Victorious) 5hrs 28mins 20secs
Jasper Stuyven (Bel/Trek-Segafredo) +1min 20secs
Magnus Cort (Den/EF Education Nippo) +1min 40secs
Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Fenix) Same time
Kasper Asgreen (Den/Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
Franck Bonnamour (Fra/B&B Hotels)
Patrick Konrad (Aut/Bora-Hansgrohe)
Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma)
Brent van Moer (Bel/Lotto Soudal) +1min 44secs
Dorian Godon (Fra/AG2R Citroen) +2mins 45secs
General classification after stage seven

Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpenic-Fenix) 25hrs 39mins 17secs
Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) +30secs
Kasper Asgreen (Den/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +1min 49secs
Matej Mohoric (Slo/Bahrain Victorious) +3mins 01sec
Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +3mins 43secs
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Trek-Segafredo) +4mins 12secs
Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +4mins 23secs
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +4mins 56secs
Pierre Latour (Fra/Total-Energies) +5mins 03secs
Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education Nippo) +5mins 04secs

[themaclad]

Belgium's Dylan Teuns took a fine solo victory on stage eight of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar claimed the yellow jersey in Le Grand-Bornand.

Defending champion Pogacar, 22, rode away from his rivals for the overall victory on the penultimate climb of the Tour's first day in the mountains.

Ion Izagirre was second, 44 seconds behind Teuns, with Michael Woods third and Pogacar fourth, 49 seconds back.

Britain's 2018 winner Geraint Thomas, dropped away early on in the stage.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider, who had a dislocated shoulder popped back in after crashing heavily on stage three, was distanced on the opening uncategorised 5km climb of a bruising 151km race that included three category one climbs.

UAE-Team Emirates rider Pogacar attacked out of a reduced peloton with just over 30km remaining in an extraordinary demonstration of his power, punching his chest in celebration as he crossed the finish line.

Pogacar now leads Belgium's Wout van Aert by one minute and 48 seconds in the general classification race.

Stage eight results
1. Dylan Teuns (Bel/Bahrain-Victorious) 3hrs 54mins 41secs

2. Ion Izagirre (Spa/Astana) +44 secs

3. Michael Woods (Can/Israel Start-Up Nation) +47secs

4. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE-Team Emirates) +49secs

5. Wout Poels (Ned/Bahrain-Victorious) +2mins 33secs

6. Simon Yates (GB/BikeExchange) +2mins 43secs

7. Aurelian Paret-Peintre (Fra/AG2R Citroen) +3mins 03secs

8. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) Same time

9. Mattia Catteneo (Ita/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +4mins 07secs

10. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo Visma) +4mins 09secs

General classification after stage eight
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 29hrs 38mins 25secs

2. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) +1min 48 secs

3. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +4mins 38secs

4. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education Nippo) +4mins 46secs

5. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo Visma) +5mins 00secs

6. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 01secs

7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe) +5mins 13secs

8. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +5mins 15secs

9. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +5mins 52 secs

10. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain-Victorious) 6mins 41secs

[ritchiebaby]

I get the feeling it's only Pogacar's to lose now, as he is so far ahead of his serious rivals. Mind you, I thought the same about Roglic last year and he did lose it on the penultimate stage. Only the next three riders are within 5 minutes and the next two weeks should suit him and I did think that he saved himself yesterday for today. Even today, when he was charging after Teuns and Izaguirre, bringing the gap down to less than half a minute, he slackened the pace to a sensible amount avoiding any potential mishaps in the rain. Uran and Carapaz will consider themselves real challengers but UAE will surely look after Pogacar, while still allowing him the freedom to do his own thing.

Mark Cavendish had a quiet day allowing Sonny Colbrelli to make slight inroads into his Green jersey lead. Again, Cavendish will be choosing his stages wisely for maximum return. Wouter Poels scored points at every summit to take the Polka Dot Jersey lead and Simon Yates is starting to look dangerous, but far, far away from the leaders.

For tomorrow, it's a 144.9km stage from Cluses to Tignes and possibly the swansong of one of the world's greatest riders, Peter Sagan. It's no secret I've been a big fan of his for the last 10 years and this a Sagan stage with a sprint after a Category 2 climb. Let's hope he's in the mood to make his mark in a breakaway. There is a theory that tomorrow will be a perfect time for Rigoberto Uran to eat into Pogacar's lead, as Pogacar took a lot out of himself today and Carapaz just about rode himself to a standstill in trying to claw back time. The last 30 km of the stage is almost all uphill, a long slog for tired legs. With a rest day on Monday, somebody will go for it, but who?

[themaclad]

Australia's Ben O'Connor produced a brilliantly composed ride to win stage nine of the Tour de France but fell short of taking the yellow jersey.

The AG2R Citroen rider conquered the bruising mountainous finish in Tignes and is second behind defending champion Tadej Pogacar in the overall standings.

O'Connor looked as if he would overtake the Slovenian before Ineos Grenadiers took charge of the yellow jersey group.

Mattia Cattaneo finished second on the stage, with Sonny Colbrelli in third.

O'Connor raced away from fellow breakaway rider Sergio Higuita with 17km of the final climb up to Tignes still remaining at the end of the 144.9km stage from Cluses - and eventually finished five minutes and seven seconds ahead of Italy's Cattaneo.

"It was always the dream," O'Connor, 25. "Just to be here is the first dream.

"This is testament to everyone who's put faith in me over the years, my fiancee, my parents, my best mates back in Australia. It's been a wild ride, it's mind blowing.

"I mean, it's what you dream of. It's so much joy. I've managed to control myself now. I'm just loving every single moment."

Pogacar took sixth place on the stage, gaining 32 seconds on Richard Carapaz, and now leads overall by two minutes and one second from O'Connor, with Rigoberto Uran the next closest challenger at five minutes and 18 seconds down.

Monday is a rest day for the riders before stage 10 on Tuesday, 190.7km from Albertville to Valence.

Pogacar leads O'Connor by two minutes and one second in the general classification standings
Tadej Pogacar leads O'Connor by two minutes and one second in the general classification standings
Stage nine results
1. Ben O'Connor (Aus/AG2R Citroen) 4hrs 26mins 43secs

2. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) +5mins 07secs

3. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain-Victorious) +5mins 34secs

4. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +5mins 36secs

5. Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels) +6mins 02secs

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

7. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) 6mins 34secs

8. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo Visma) Same time

9. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar)

10. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo)

General classification after stage nine
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 34hrs 11mins 10secs

2. Ben O'Connor (Aus/AG2R Citroen) +2mins 01secs

3. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education Nippo 5mins 18secs

4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo Visma) +5mins 32secs

5. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 33secs

6. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +5mins 47secs

7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe) +5mins 58secs

8. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +6mins 12secs

9. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +7mins 02secs

10. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +7mins 22secs

[ritchiebaby]

Having a look over the first third of the race, three of my tips have already bitten the dust - Roglic, literally in the first few days, has now withdrawn, Ewan had crashed spectacularly and retired injured and Demare missed the time limit today. Of the others, only Carapaz and Uran have any chance of getting on the podium in Paris, probably at least 15 minutes behind Pogacar.

[themaclad]

Mark Cavendish sprinted to his 33rd stage victory at the Tour de France to move within one win of Belgian legend Eddy Merckx's all-time record.

The Manx rider, 36, held off Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen to win stage 10 in Valence after a perfect lead-out.

Deceuninck-Quick-Step's Cavendish also won stages four and six of this Tour.

There are two more sprints this week and two more in the last week, ending with the Champs-Elysees finale, where Cavendish has won a record four times.

Defending champion Tadej Pogacar finished safely in the main bunch to retain the leader's yellow jersey.

Cavendish also extended his advantage in the green jersey points classification and now leads Australia's Michael Matthews by 59 points, with Italy's Sonny Colbrelli a further 23 behind.

"It was an old-school, run-of-the-mill, like you read in the cycling magazines, textbook lead-out," said Cavendish, who won the 2011 green jersey.

"We got the lads on the front to pull as fast as they can so no one can come past you.

"I didn't really do anything until the last 150m because of my team."

Of his three wins in this year's race, this victory was perhaps the most reminiscent of the usual way he surged to his 30 stage wins between 2008 and 2016.

With the strongest sprint train in the race dominating the front, Cavendish was able to stay on the wheel of Michael Morkov, widely regarded as the best lead-out man in cycling, to launch late and have time to put his arms up in celebration, even as others closed in.

He once again lavishly praised his team-mates, saying he was "humbled" to have the likes of Tour of Flanders champion Kasper Asgreen and world champion Julian Alaphilippe pulling for him.

Many other elite sprinters are missing, with Caleb Ewan breaking his collarbone in a crash on stage three, which was won by Tim Merlier, who has since abandoned, while Dylan Groenewegen was not selected.

However, that does not diminish the achievements of Cavendish here, having not been used to riding with this sprint train, which had been preparing to ride for last year's green jersey winner Sam Bennett.

Cavendish had already made a resurgence earlier this year with four wins, but he has taken the opportunity to step in for the injured Bennett brilliantly and completely repaid the faith shown in him by Deceunick-Quick-Step in re-signing him after years of illness and loss of form.

Having not contested the intermediate sprint, Cavendish said after the stage finish that he is only focusing on stage wins and that the green jersey is a bonus.

Yet with his nearest green jersey contenders not threatening in bunch sprint finishes and record seven-time winner Peter Sagan seemingly not challenging for it this year, Cavendish is looking increasingly likely to claim his second green jersey - as long as he makes it to Paris.

Wednesday's Stage 11 is a decisive day for the general classification contenders, featuring two ascents of the famous Mont Ventoux.

Stage 10 results

Mark Cavendish (GB/Deceunick-Quick-Step) 4hrs 14mins 07secs
Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Fenix)
Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Arkea-Samsic)
Michael Matthews (Aus/Team Bike-Exchange)
Michael Morkov (Den/Deceuninck-Quick-Step)
Andre Greipel (Ger/Israel Start Up Nation)
Peter Sagan (Svk/Bora-Hansgrohe)
Anthony Turgis (Fra/Total Energies)
Cees Bol (Ned/Team DSM)
General classification after stage 10

Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 38hrs 25mins 17secs
Ben O'Connor (Aus/AG2R Citroen) +2mins 01secs
Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education Nippo) + 5mins 18secs
Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo Visma) +5mins 32secs
Richard Carapaz (Ecu/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 33secs
Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar) +5mins 47secs
Wilco Kelderman (Ned/Bora-Hansgrohe) +5mins 58secs
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana) +6mins 12secs
Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +7mins 02secs
David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +7mins 22secs