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MARK CAVENDISH broke down in floods of tears after winning his first Tour de France stage in five years.

He clinched a thrilling sprint stage into Fougeres in Brittany to cap one of the sport's greatest comebacks.

Mark Cavendish won stage four of the Tour de France into Fougeres
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Mark Cavendish won stage four of the Tour de France into FougeresCredit: Reuters
Cavendish was overcome with emotion after his victory
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Cavendish was overcome with emotion after his victoryCredit: Reuters
Cavendish got off his bike and sat on the tarmac and sobbed with joy after going through the mill before his victory in Brittany
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Cavendish got off his bike and sat on the tarmac and sobbed with joy after going through the mill before his victory in BrittanyCredit: AFP

The greatest Tour sprinter of all time appeared a spent force after contracting Epstein-Barr virus in 2018 and did not even have a TEAM at the start of the season.

And on Monday, stage three was wrecked by multiple crashes during a fraught finale.

But the Deceuninck-QuickStep sprint train worked a dream for Cavendish, 36, who has now won an incredible 31 individual stages at cycling's greatest race.

He out-sprinted Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni and Belgian Jasper Philipsen to triumph in three hours, 20 minutes.

He won his first stage 13 years ago and has gone on to redefine the sprinter's era.

Cavendish is now three stage victories behind legend Eddy Merckx record of 34.

A totally stunned Cavendish said: "I didn't think I'd ever come back to this race.

"[We were] just flying from the whole team, you just see what a team this is, we've got the green jersey, the world champion, just trying to catch the breakaway.

Cavendish was mobbed by his thrilled team-mates at the stage finish
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Cavendish was mobbed by his thrilled team-mates at the stage finishCredit: Reuters
Cavendish out-sprinted Nacer Bouhani, right, and Jasper Philipsen, left for the stage win
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Cavendish out-sprinted Nacer Bouhani, right, and Jasper Philipsen, left for the stage winCredit: AFP

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"So many people didn't believe in me, these guys do...

"I thought I'd never come back to this race, honestly, when you come back to Deceninck-QuickStep, it's the best riders in the world, so it's not even a thought for me.

"I never ever want bad things to happen to other people, but after the last years it's just great to have this for myself."

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