Mark Cavendish clinched a stunning victory on stage four of this year’s Tour de France on Tuesday afternoon.

The Manx Missile sprinted to his first win at Le Tour for five years when bursting clear to claim a dramatic victory in Fougères and move to within three of Eddy Merckx’s all-time record (34).

After a tense finish, the peloton reeled in a lone breakaway rider within the closing metres of the stage before Cav delivered a trademark burst of speed to surge past Nacer Bouhanni and Jasper Philipsen at the line.

Such was the relief and emotion at ending his long wait for a Tour de France victory that the Manxman burst into tears before being congratulated by the rest of his delighted Deceuninck -QuickStep team-mates.

Thursday offers another possibility for Cav to edge even closer to the record when the Tour heads from Tours to Châteauroux where Cav claimed his very first TdF win back in 2008.

Full report and reaction in this week’s Manx Independent, on sale Thursday morning.