Afghanistan rulers are absent at the UN Human Rights Council meeting as Taliban are not recognised by the global body
Mark Cavendish's stunning comeback on the Tour de France continued when the Briton claimed his second victory in this year’s race with a perfectly-executed sprint on Thursday.
The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider now has 32 stage wins on the Tour and is two short of the all-time record of Belgian great Eddy Merck as he takes part in the world’s greatest race for the first time since 2018.
Cavendish finished off his team mates’ work in the final straight after being led out by Michael Morkov. The 36-year-old Briton beat Belgian Jasper Philipsen and France’s Nacer Bouhanni who finished second and third.
It was Cavendish’s third victory on Chateauroux, where he won his first Tour stage in 2008 and just like 13 years ago, the Manxman held his helmet in apparent disbelief when he crossed the line.
“Chateauroux is a massive old school Tour de France sprint, you can see the finish line from the one-kilometre banner,” said Cavendish, who still refuses to discuss Merckx’s record.
“That’s what special about it. Here, Paris and Bordeaux are big sprint towns and it’s an honour to have won all of them.”
After his victory in Fougeres, where he had already won before, on Tuesday, Cavendish was expected to be in the mix again and he duly delivered as he looked unbeatable in the last 300 metres.
“It’s not like I’m more confident, it’s just that it was less of a shock. We knew we could do it. I’m not saying we knew we would do it, but we knew we could.”
Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel retained the race leader’s yellow jersey as the top positions in the general classification remained unchanged.
Friday’s seventh stage, the longest in this year’s race, is an undulating 249.1km ride between Vierzon and Le Creusot before the riders turn their focus to the mountains on Saturday.
Tour de France results and overall standings
After Thursday’s stage 6
Stage 6 (all same time)
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/DEC) 3hr 17min 36sec, 2. Jasper Philipsen (BEL/ALP), 3. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA/ARK), 4. Arnaud Démare (FRA/GFJ), 5. Peter Sagan (SVK/BOR), 6. Cees Bol (NED/DSM), 7. Tim Merlier (BEL/ALP), 8. Wout van Aert (BEL/JUM), 9. Michael Matthews (AUS/BIK), 10. Mads Pedersen (DEN/TRE), 11. Sonny Colbrelli (ITA/BAH), 12. Jasper De Buyst (BEL/LOT), 13. Max Walscheid (GER/QHU), 14. Rick Zabel (GER/ISR), 15. Mike Teunissen (NED/JUM), 16. Bryan Coquard (FRA/BBH), 17. Tosh Van der Sande (BEL/LOT), 18. Danny van Poppel (NED/INT), 19. Anthony Turgis (FRA/TOT), 20. Ivan Garcia (ESP/MOV)
Overall
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin) 20hr 09min 17sec, 2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) at 8sec, 3. Wout van Aert (BEL/JUM) 30, 4. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/DEC) 48, 5. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/AST) 1:21, 6. Pierre Latour (FRA/TOT) 1:28, 7. Rigoberto Uran (COL/EF1) 1:29, 8. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN/JUM) 1:43, 9. Richard Carapaz (ECU/INE) 1:44, 10. Primoz Roglic (SLO/JUM) 1:48.
Afghanistan rulers are absent at the UN Human Rights Council meeting as Taliban are not recognised by the global body
A recognition reaffirms Alaan's status as a leader in the corporate card and expense management sector in the Middle East
The deluge cut off a road, uprooted trees, washed away homes and sent vehicles flying
The Gulf countries have been working on the unified tourist visa – similar to Schengen-style visa – for over one year
Renowned French pastry chef Angelo Musa, who recently introduced two dining concepts in Dubai, shares tips on how to excel in pastry art
Sheeraz was generous in giving realistic and practical insights on how fame can completely change the trajectory of one’s career and brand
The Dh100-billion plan introduced by the city's Crown Prince aims at increasing economic productivity
It joins other Apple products that were already in the DMA net since September: iOS for iPhones, the App Store, and the Safari browser