Top-man Mark - Cavendish stage win lays ghost of 'little fat kid'

The nightmare of 12 months ago in Kent, when the Isle of Man racer crashed on the run-in to Canterbury, and an indifferent start to this year's Tour were swept away in blistering fashion by a 23-year-old who once described himself as a 'little fat kid'.

Pain gain: Mark Cavendish of Britain sprints to win

Recently, Cavendish has styled himself as the fastest sprinter in the world, backing it up with two stage victories in this year's Giro d'Italia. As he admitted after driving to the line yesterday, however, what counts in cycling is the sport's glamour events - the Tour and the Olympics.

He will partner Bradley Wiggins in the Madison discipline in Beijing next month and he now has a stage win in Le Tour to fortify his belief, becoming the first Briton to triumph in a bunch sprint since Barry Hoban in Bordeaux in 1975.

A breakaway group of three during the 145-mile longest stage of this year's race were chased down and finally caught on the outskirts of Chateauroux, the birthplace of actor Gerard Depardieu and an ecofriendly place boasting free buses and mile upon mile of bike lanes.

Cavendish's Columbia team were at the forefront of the pursuit after missing an opportunity to position their man for a sprint finish in Nantes two days earlier, allowing the breakaway too great a lead.

On the final straight, Cavendish burst past Thor Hushovd and reeled in Nicolas Vogondy, the remaining rider of the trio of leaders, before clutching his head in his hands as he crossed the line. More flamboyant celebrations soon followed - raised arms, fist pumps and hugs for every one of his team-mates.

He said: 'I woke up this morning and said to the lads in the hotel that I was going to win today. It sounds arrogant but I prefer to say it's confidence. To win a stage in the Tour so young means so, so much to me. It's always been a dream.

'We only just got to the breakaway riders on the line whereas there was a time earlier in the stage when I thought we might catch them too early. It just shows that anything can happen in this race.

'If I didn't go home after the race with a stage win, I'd have been really disappointed. I thought I could get one this year and the team worked 100 per cent today to put me in position. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Barry Hoban was the last Briton to win a sprint stage in 1975

'A lot of British fans think cycling is only the Olympics and the Tour de France, and they don't get the chance to appreciate how much I've done in other races. So at least I got to show them that I am the fastest guy in the world.'

While Cavendish is unlikely to contend for the green jersey that is awarded to the best overall sprinter in the race and is a doubt to finish the Tour once the gruelling climbs of the Pyrenees are reached this weekend because of his Olympic ambitions this summer, his stature for future Tours seems assured. Columbia team-mate George Hincapie said: 'He is the best sprinter in the world. If we can put him in position to have a straight run in the final 200 metres, nobody can catch him.'

The mass finish allowed German Stefan Schumacher to retain the race leader's yellow jersey ahead of the first mountain stage, which today takes the field into the lush vegetation of the Massif Central.

The summit finish in the ski resort of Super Besse will give the specialist climbers an opportunity to test each other, although last year's King of the Mountains, Juan Mauricio Soler, of Colombia, retired yesterday after fracturing his right hand in Saturday's opening stage.

TODAY: Aigurande-Super Besse, 121.5 miles.