Cavendish sprints to 24th career Tour stage win

Marseille, France (Sports Network) – Mark Cavendish won the fifth stage of the 2013 Tour de France on Wednesday, a 228.5-kilometer ride from Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille.

Cavendish led a final dash to claim his 24th career Tour stage victory, beating out Edvald Boasson Hagen, Peter Sagan and Andre Greipel and crossing the finish line in a time of 5 hours, 31 minutes and 51 seconds.

A pileup with about 200 meters to go slowed much of the peloton, but the riders lost no time in the general classification. A total of 154 riders were credited with the same time as Cavendish, including Simon Gerrans, who retained the yellow jersey and his one-second overall lead ahead of Orica- GreenEdge teammates Daryl Impey and Michael Albasini.

Thursday’s sixth stage is a mostly flat 176.5-kilometer trek from Aix-en- Provence to Montpellier.

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