Cavendish misses out on stage win record as Pogacar prevails

Wout Van Aert denied Mark Cavendish another piece of Tour de France history as the Belgian national champion won stage 21 on the ChampsElysees on Paris yesterday.

Cavendish was seeking his fifth stage victory of this Tour which would have moved him clear of Eddy Merckx as the winner of a record 35.

But it was not to be as the Manxman got squeezed out on the run to the line and Merckx’s compatriot took his third stage win of this Tour – completing the set with a sprint after his successes in the mountains and in Saturday’s time trial.

Cavendish had to check his sprint more than once as he struggled to find a gap before coming in third behind Van Aert and Jasper Philipsen.

Tadej Pogacar, 22, crossed the line safely to confirm his second consecutive title for UAE Team Emirates.

The fairy tale ending to this Tour was not to be, but this will still go down as a remarkable performance from Cavendish.

After several seasons disrupted by injury and illness, the 36-year-old did not expect to be competing in the Tour but stepped in after an injury to team-mate Sam Bennett and looked back to his best as he took his first stage wins since 2016.

As history beckoned, Van Aert had joked that he would

do his best to defend Merckx’s record for Belgium, and though he could not stop Cavendish equalling it, the Jumbo-Visma rider was there to make sure it was not broken on the Champs-Elysees.

This year the famous finish line on the Champs-Elysees had been moved 350 metres further up the boulevard, closer to the Arc de Triomphe.

The longer run-in from the final bend should have suited the strong lead-out of Cavendish’s DeceuninckQuickStep squad, but they got themselves out of position in the final two kilometres,

leaving Cavendish to improvise.

There was a brief moment when space opened up to Van Aert’s right, but Philipsen swept in to leave Cavendish banging his handlebars

as he rolled in third.

However, Manxman Cavendish had done enough to secure the points classification – a decade after he previously took the green jersey in 2011.

Team UAE Emirates' Tadej Pogacar wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey rides past the Louvre Pyramid inside the museum courtyard during the last stage of the Tour de France.