Mark Cavendish narrowly missed out on breaking Eddy Merckx’s record at the Tour de France on Sunday evening.

The Manxman was hoping to clinch his 35th career win at Le Tour having claimed four stunning victories already at this year’s race.

But it wasn’t to be for the Deceuninck-QuickStep star as a chaotic final day in Paris unfolded over eight laps of the French capital and he found himself without his main leadout man Michael Morkov heading onto the Champs-Élysées for the final time in this year’s event.

The Manx Missile appeared to be slightly boxed-in as the sprint unfolded and, despite his best efforts, he had to settle for third place.

But while he may be disappointed to miss out on the record - for now at least - the 36-year-old capped a truly magnificent Tour de France - arguably one of the greatest sporting comebacks in history - Cav sealed the coveted maillot vert green jersey for winning the points classification.

More in this week’s Isle of Man Examiner, on sale Tuesday morning.