Cavendish wins third stage win of 2016 Tour de France

Mark Cavendish made it 29 stage wins at the Tour de France as he edged another tight sprint finish on stage six into Montauban.

The Dimension Data rider hit the front in the closing 100 metres of the 190.5-kilometre stage and had enough in his locker to hold off Marcel Kittel (Etixx – Quick Step) and Dan McLay (Fortuneo-Vital Concept).

Victory for Cavendish – his third of the 2016 Tour – sees him take the lead in the points classification, meaning he will be in the sprinters' green jersey on Friday.

McLay looked like he was going to pip Cavendish on the line but once again Cavendish showed his quality to move into sole possession of second place in the all-time stage winners list behind Eddy Merckx.

After a gruelling day in the saddle on Wednesday on the first mountain stage, much of the peloton took the chance to recover as only Jan Barta (Bora-Argon) and Yukiya Arashiro (Lampre-Merida) made the break.

The duo shared the points from all three category climbs and the intermediate sprint as they held the lead for 165km, but eventually they were reeled in with 22km to race.

Team Sky and BMC Racing moved into prominent positions as the sprint finish drew closer, with Bryan Coquard's Direct Energie also in contention as the Frenchman looked to make up for his agonising defeat on stage five.

Lotto-Soudal looked set to provide a perfect lead out for Andre Greipel, but the German was not in the race for the line as Cavendish worked his way through the pack.

Having found his opening, the Manxman upped his speed and although Kittel and McLay were wise to his move there was nothing they could do.

Overall leader Greg Van Avermaet's advantage was never in trouble on a day for the sprinters, the Dutchman cruising home with his five minute and 11 second lead still intact.