TOUR DE FRANCE 2021 STAGE 10 RESULTS – 33 FOR CAVENDISH

Mark Cavendish won his third stage on the 2021 Tour de France on Tuesday to move within one of Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 wins on the world’s greatest race. At the end of a flat run from Albertville to Valence, 36-year-old Cavendish edged Belgium’s Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen at the line to also keep a firm grip on the sprint points green jersey.

Cavendish was a surprise late inclusion on Deceuninck’s Tour roster and had grabbed the opportunity, ending a five-year barren patch in the race with wins on stage four and six.

The 2009 world champion, who is known as the Manx Missile, was teamless in December before being taken in by former mentor Patrick Lefevere at the Belgian team Cavendish calls home.

22-year-old defending champion Tadej Pogacar retained the yellow jersey for the overall lead after keeping alow profile ahead of Wednesday’s monster double climb of Mont Ventoux with its barren, lunar upper reaches.

Stage 10 took the peloton through the magnificent Rhone Valley where the 165 survivors from the original 184 starters appeared relaxed after their rest day.

TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 10 RESULTS

1	CAVENDISH Mark	Deceuninck – Quick Step	4:14:07
2	VAN AERT Wout	Team Jumbo-Visma	0:00
3	PHILIPSEN Jasper	Alpecin-Fenix	0:00
4	BOUHANNI Nacer	Team Arkéa Samsic	0:00
5	MATTHEWS Michael	Team BikeExchange	0:00
6	MORKOV Michael	Deceuninck – Quick Step	0:00
7	GREIPEL André	Israel Start-Up Nation	0:00
8	SAGAN Peter	BORA – hansgrohe	0:00
9	TURGIS Anthony	Team TotalEnergies	0:00
10	BOL Cees	Team DSM	0:00

OVERALL STANDINGS

1	POGACAR Tadej	UAE-Team Emirates	38:25:17
2	O’CONNOR Ben	AG2R Citroën Team	2:01
3	URÁN Rigoberto	EF Education – Nippo	5:18
4	VINGEGAARD Jonas	Team Jumbo-Visma	5:32
5	CARAPAZ Richard	INEOS Grenadiers	5:33
6	MAS Enric	Movistar Team	5:47
7	KELDERMAN Wilco	BORA – hansgrohe	5:58
8	LUTSENKO Alexey	Astana – Premier Tech	6:12
9	MARTIN Guillaume	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	7:02
10	GAUDU David	Groupama – FDJ	7:22

RBA/AFP Photos: Bettini