Mark Cavendish storms to victory in final stage of Tour de France

CAVENDISH cemented his place as the best sprinter in world cycling  and Olympic gold medal favourite  with a stunning triumph in the final stage of the Tour de France.

The road race world champion, 27, was led to victory down the Champs-Elysees by Team Sky team-mate and overall winner Bradley Wiggins.

Cavendish hit the front in the final kilometre and used his raw pace to storm to the line for his third stage victory of the 2012 Tour, his 23rd overall and a record fourth win in the final stage in Paris.

It also moves him above Lance Armstrong to place fourth in the all-time list of stage winners.

An emotional Cavendish said: “It is incredible. Bradley Wiggins, the yellow jersey leading me out, said wait until the last kilometre and go for it  and I did.

“I went a bit earlier than I wanted to but I had the acceleration coming out of the corner and I just thought if I can put enough space between me and the chasers and then try to hold on.

“It couldn’t be more perfect, it has been an amazing Tour for us. It is incredible, Team Sky said the aim was to win the yellow jersey and we’ve done it with a one-two.

"We’ve got one more job to do next week and it’s going to be an amazing few weeks for us.”

The Manx Missile will be hoping for a perfect replica in just six days time in the Mall in London when he tackles the Olympic road race, giving Great Britain its first chance of lifting gold at London 2012.