After a storming race of 210 cyclists in the Elite Mens’ category, Cavendish won over the gargantuan distance of 266km, 17 laps of the road course, plus the beginning 28km to the town centre. His final time was 5:40:27, a wonderful time for such a gruelling competition. Mark also won the 2011 Tour de France on with the most points, 344, well ahead of other competitors.

Unfortunately, the second best Brit was in 81st, Gerraint Thomas, and two fellow GBs (Steve Cummings and Christopher Froome) did not finish, both crashing during the race. The last winner from the United Kingdom was Tom Simpson in 1965, nearly 50 years ago! 

Cavendish spoke to news crews in a hurry after the win, excited that their own could claw victory from such harsh opponents like Matthew Goss and Andre Greipel “It was incredible, we took it on from start to finish. I can’t believe it. We knew three years ago when this course was announced – we put a plan together to put these best guys together. It’s been three years in the making and you just saw they rode incredibly. I’m just so proud.”

Congratulations on such a smashing win Mark!

What do you think? Are you ecstatic at the race results? Or did your favourite do a little worse than expected? Leave your thoughts below!