MARK CAVENDISH matched the all-time Tour de France stage-win record today as he collected the 34th of his career in Carcassonne.

Cavendish moved level with Eddy Merckx as he took victory ahead of his own leadout man Michael Morkov at the end of the 220km stage 13 from Nimes.

It was the fourth stage victory of the Tour for the 36-year-old Manxman, who has enjoyed a remarkable return to form and capitalised on an unexpected selection for the Deceuninck-QuickStep squad, winning his first stages in the race since 2016.

The Belgian Merckx, a five-time overall Tour winner who is widely regarded as the greatest-ever road cyclist, took the last of his stage wins in 1975.

Cavendish, if he can stay safe through the mountain stages to come, should have two more opportunities to take the record outright, first on stage 19 into Libourne and then on the final day on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Cavendish looked exhausted as he collapsed to the floor after the finish before being mobbed by his teammates.

“It’s tiring,” he said. “I can’t even think about [the record]. I’m afraid I’m so dead after 220km in that heat, that wind, and that finale.

“I went deep, I went so deep there. The boys were incredible. I can’t believe it. A lot of the day it didn’t feel like it [was going to happen] but it had to happen because I had the guys riding like they were.

“I was so on the limit there.”

Asked about the record again, he added: “I haven’t realised it. It’s still just another win on the Tour de France. It’s like my first one. I’ve won a stage of the Tour de France. It’s what I dreamed of as a kid and it’s what I dream of now.”