Cavendish first Briton to secure hat-trick of Tour stage wins

MARK CAVENDISH lifted some of the gloom surrounding the Tour de France by becoming the first Briton to secure a hat-trick of stage victories in the Tour de France.

Unlike his second victory, Cavendish had to complete the final sprint from Lavelanet to Narbonne without the help of a team-mate, and he peeled out to the left to overhaul the Milram team with comparative ease. His achievement surpasses that of another sprinter, Barry Hoban, who won two stages in both 1969 and 1973. With three consecutive defeats of Thor Hushovd, Erik Zabel and Oscar Freire, the 23-year-old Cavendish can legitimately claim the title of fastest sprinter in the world, even with the absence of Tom Boonen through recreational drug use.

The stage win is reward for Cavendish’s toil through the Pyrenees, which included a last-place finish and a collision with a football. Cavendish rockets up the green jersey rankings to 121 points, still 41 behind Freire.