Britain's Mark Cavendish had been seeking a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage victory for years – and in Saint Vulbas on stage five of the 2024 Tour, he finally made the dream a reality.
It was classic Cavendish – after being deftly ushered through the last 10 kilometres by his Astana Qazaqstan team, the final 500 metres saw the Manx rider jinking from wheel to wheel before springing forth to take the lead with a power and assuredness that utterly defied his 39 years.
He had been due to retire at the end of 2023, but after crashing out of last year's Tour de France on stage eight, his Astana team gave him one last bite of the cherry this year. They will be glad they did so.
The Manxman started winning at the Tour in 2008 at Chateauroux, and 13 years later, having made a sensational comeback, he rode in to the history books. He has long been the race's greatest ever sprinter, now he is one of the events greatest riders.
For the first six years of his Tour presence he was the dominant sprinter at the race, but after a short resurgence in 2016 when he won three stages riding for Dimension Data, had endured a fallow period due to illness. He missed the 2019 and 2020 editions and during this time admitted himself he may never return to the race that has captivated him since he was a child.
Then this year he was selected for the race with less than a week to go after Sam Bennett succumbed to a knee injury and then embarked on an incredible comeback that no one expected. Not even him.
We decided to plot all of his 34 wins on a map. Click on each one and for a brief description and link to our original report.
Mark Cavendish's Tour de France stages wins
1. Chateauroux. July 7, 2008 Team Columbia (23)
2. Toulouse, July 12, 2008 Team Columbia (23)
3. Narbonne, July 17, 2008 Team Columbia (23)
4. Nimes, July 18, 2008 Team Columbia (23)
5. Brignoles, July 5, 2009 Team Columbia - HTC (24)
6. La Grand-Motte, July 6, 2009 Team Columbia - HTC (24)
7. Issoudun, July 14, 2009 Team Columbia - HTC (24)
8. Saint-Fargeau, July 15, 2009 Team Columbia - HTC (24)
9. Aubenas, July 24, 2009 Team Columbia - HTC (24)
10. Paris, Champs-Élysées, July 26, 2009 Team Columbia - HTC (24)
11. Montargis, July 8, 2010 Team HTC - Columbia (25)
12. Gueugnon, July 9, 2010 Team HTC - Columbia (25)
13. Bourg-Lés-Valence, July 15, 2010 Team HTC - Columbia (25)
14. Bordeaux, July 23, 2010 Team HTC - Columbia (25)
15. Paris, Champs-Élysées, July 25, 2010 Team HTC - Columbia (25)
16. Cap Fréhel, July 6, 2011 HTC - Highroad (26)
17. Châteauroux, July 8, 2011 HTC - Highroad (26)
18. Lavaur, July 13, 2011 HTC - Highroad (26)
19. Montpellier, July 17, 2011 HTC - Highroad (26)
20. Paris, Champs-Élysées, July 24, 2011 HTC - Highroad (26)
21. Tournai (Bel), July 2, 2012 Team Sky (27)
22. Brive-la-Gaillarde, July 20, 2012 Team Sky (27)
23. Paris, Champs-Élysées, July 22, 2012 Team Sky (27)
24. Marseille, July 3, 2013 OmegaPharma - Quickstep (28)
25. Saint-Amand-Montrond, July 12, 2013 OmegaPharma - Quickstep (28)
26. Fougéres, July 10, 2015 Etixx - Quick Step (30)
27. Utah Beach, July 2, 2016 Dimension Data (31)
28. Angers, July 4, 2016 Dimension Data (31)
29. Montuban, July 7, 2016 Dimension Data (31)
30. Villard-les-Dombes Parc Oiseaux, July 16, 2016 Dimension Data (31)
31. Fougéres, June 29, 2021 Deceuninck Quick-Step (36)
32. Châteauroux, July 1, 2021 Deceuninck Quick-Step (36)
33. Valence, July 6, 2021 Deceuninck Quick-Step (36)
34. Carcassonne, July 9, 2021 Deceuninck Quick-Step (36)
35. Saint Vulbas, July 3, 2024 Astana Qazaqstan (39)
Cavendish's age at the time of the victory in brackets.
Tour de France riders with the most stage wins
1. Mark Cavendish* (GBr) 35
2. Eddy Merckx (Bel) 34
3. Bernhard Hinault (Fra) 28
4. André Leducq (Fra) 25
5. André Darrigade (Fra) 22
6. Nicolas Frantz (Lux) 20
7. François Faber (Lux) 19
8. Jean Alavoine (Fra) 17
=9. Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 16
=9. René Le Greves (Fra) 16
=9. Charles Pelissier (Fra) 16
*Denotes current rider
