Mark Cavendish etched his name deeper into Tour de France history on Friday as he won his 34th career stage to match the record of the great Eddy Merckx.

Thirteen years to the day after winning his first stage in Chateauroux, Cavendish celebrated a milestone victory in Carcassonne that cements his status as the greatest sprinter the race has ever seen.

But more than that, the victory continued a remarkable sporting comeback as a rider who feared his career was over in the winter won his fourth stage of this year’s Tour to match a record which had felt out of reach during the struggles of recent years.

The sprint finish meant there were no major changes in the general classification, with Tadej Pogacar continuing to lead by five minutes 18 seconds from Rigoberto Uran.

But while Cavendish celebrated, fellow Brit Simon Yates saw his race ended after he was caught in a high-speed crash inside the final 65km of the stage.

The 28-year-old, using the Tour to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics and eyeing Sunday’s stage close to his home in Andorra, briefly remounted before pulling out of the race.

Team BikeExchange later said Yates had suffered “trauma to his abdominal wall” but that scans showed no fractures or internal injuries.