Mark Cavendish has realised his big dream at the Tour de France and now holds the sole record for the most stage wins at the Tour of France with 35 victories, which he previously shared with Eddy Merckx. The sprinter from Astana Qazaqstan Team relegated Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) to second and third place after 177.4 kilometres on stage 5 between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Saint-Vulbas. Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) was the best German in sixth place.
"I'm very, very happy," said Cavendish at the finish, and continued: "I have such a great team," enthused the top sprinter. "I'm so grateful that my family came all the way yesterday."
The 39-year-old Cavendish thus clinched his 35th victory in the world's most important cycling race 16 years after his first stage win on stage 5 of the 2008 Tour de France. It was the 165th victory in his career.
All of Mark Cavendish's stage wins at the Tour de France at a glance
- Tour de France 2008, 5th stage
- Tour de France 2008, 8th stage
- Tour de France 2008, 12th stage
- Tour de France 2008, 13th stage
- Tour de France 2009, 2nd stage
- Tour de France 2009, 3rd stage
- Tour de France 2009, 10th stage
- Tour de France 2009, 11th stage
- Tour de France 2009, 19th stage
- Tour de France 2009, 21st stage
- Tour de France 2010, 5th stage
- Tour de France 2010, 6th stage
- Tour de France 2010, 11th stage
- Tour de France 2010, 18th stage
- Tour de France 2010, 20th stage
- Tour de France 2011, 5th stage
- Tour de France 2011, 7th stage
- Tour de France 2011, 11th stage
- Tour de France 2011, 15th stage
- Tour de France 2011, 21st stage
- Tour de France 2012, 2nd stage
- Tour de France 2012, 18th stage
- Tour de France 2012, 20th stage
- Tour de France 2013, 5th stage
- Tour de France 2013, 13th stage
- Tour de France 2015, 7th stage
- Tour de France 2016, 1st stage
- Tour de France 2016, 3rd stage
- Tour de France 2016, 6th stage
- Tour de France 2016, 14th stage
- Tour de France 2021, 4th stage
- Tour de France 2021, 6th stage
- Tour de France 2021, 10th stage
- Tour de France 2021, 13th stage
- Tour de France 2024, 5th stage
Tour de France 2024 - Results: the top 10 of stage 5
- Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team) 4:08:46
- Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:00
- Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) +0:00
- Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) +0:00
- Fabio Jakobsen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:00
- Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) +0:00
- Arnaud Demare (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +0:00
- Gerben Thijssen (Intermarche-Wanty) +0:00
- Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) +0:00
- Marijn van den Berg (EF Education EasyPost) +0:00
Tadej Pogacar survives a moment of shock
Tadej Pogacar easily defended the yellow jersey after his gala performance over the Col du Galibier the day before, but had to survive a moment of shock when he acrobatically dodged a traffic island 60 kilometres before the finish.
The current standings in the overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 23:15:24
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:45
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:50
- Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +1:10
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1:14
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:16
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +1:32
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +1:32
- Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +3:20
- Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +3:21
How the 5th stage of the Tour de France 2024 went
After the start, the picture was initially similar to that of the third stage, the first flat stage of the Tour de France 2024, with nobody wanting to join the breakaway group. It wasn't until 150 kilometres before the finish that the race got moving, when Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) and others briefly picked up the pace. However, the peloton did not let the Swiss time trial specialist get away. Instead, his team-mate Clement Russo set off shortly afterwards. The Frenchman was accompanied by his compatriot Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies). Both were granted a maximum lead of around five minutes by the peloton.
Crashes on stage 5
It was initially a relaxed day for Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates. After all, the sprinter teams such as Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek took over the chase in the peloton, allowing Nils Politt and Co. to save energy. However, 60 kilometres before the finish, the overall leader experienced a moment of shock when he almost hit an unsecured traffic island. With great skill, the Slovenian was able to get out of the way, while others such as Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) crashed but were able to continue the race.
Shortly after the intermediate sprint, 54 kilometres before the finish, it started to rain, which led to hectic conditions in the peloton. The race sped up and the breakaway was caught 36 kilometres before the finish. With 24 kilometres to go, there was another crash at a traffic island: this time it was Christophe Laporte (Visma | Lease a Bike ), a team-mate of Jonas Vingegaard. He was also able to continue his ride.
Cavendish starts from Ackermann's rear wheel
Little happened in the race until the final kilometre. Then came Mark Cavendish's big moment. The Brit snatched the rear wheel of Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) in a disorganised sprint, left the German's slipstream around 150 metres before the finish and fired the turbo like in his best days. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was also unable to overtake the 39-year-old's rear wheel.
