MARK CAVENDISH CLAIMED the 30th Tour de France stage win of his career, and his fourth of this year’s race, in a thrilling sprint finish in Villars-les-Dombes this afternoon.

The Isle of Man rider stormed home to clinch the win ahead of Alexander Kristoff, Peter Saga, John Degenkolb and Marcel Kittel.

Cavendish’s latest victory moves him to within four stage wins of Belgian great Eddy Merckx, who has won more than anyone else.

German rider Kittel wasn’t best pleased with Cavendish’s tactics, the Manx rider having passed Kittel on his left side before cutting in to his right. But there didn’t seem to be any serious interference and the result stood.

It was a quiet day in terms of the general classification with Chris Froome and his nearest rivals, including Ireland’s Dan Martin, finishing safely in the peloton.

Tomorrow’s 160km stage from Bourg-en-Bresse to Culoz promises to be a fascinating affair with the fearsome Grand Colombier climb to be tackled.

The peloton will take on the summit from two different sides before managing a tricky descent to Culoz.

Briton Froome leads Bauke Mollema by 1 minute 47 seconds while his compatriot Adam Yates remains in third, almost a minute further back.

Martin remains just over five minutes behind Froome in ninth overall.

Sam Bennett picked up a 12th place finish in the bunch and remains last in the general classfication.

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