CHATEAUROUX, France — Mark Cavendish claimed the sixth stage of the Tour de France in a mass sprint on Thursday, taking his impressive career tally to 32 stage wins at cycling’s biggest race.
Cavendish, the best sprinter in the race history, is second on the all-time list for the most stage wins behind Belgian great Eddy Merckx on 34.
It was Cavendish’s second stage win this year after the 36-year-old veteran took Stage 4 on Tuesday.
Cavendish was led out in the final stretch by his Deceuninck-Quick Step teammates and edged Jasper Philipsen and Nacer Bouhanni.
Mathieu van der Poel kept the race leader’s yellow jersey with an eight-second lead over defending champion Tadej Pogacar.
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports