Tour De France 2013 Results: Mark Cavendish Proves He's Still Top Sprinter

If there was ever any question as to whether or not Mark Cavendish was still the best sprinter in the world, he answered in resounding fashion on Wednesday. 

Stage 5 of the Tour de France took riders from Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille, and although it stretched out to a healthy 228.5 km and contained a few slight climbs, the overall profile was flat and a sprint was expected at the end. 

Usually that is easy money for "Cav," who entered the day with 23 Tour de France stage wins and the 2011 points classification title, but for a while, this year was beginning to feel a little different. 

After suffering a disappointing crash in a winnable first stage, Cavendish struggled on the next two mountain stages and came up just short in his effort to help teammate Michael Kwiatkowski into the yellow jacket during Tuesday's team time trial. 

Throw in his current bout with bronchitis, and the outlook certainly wasn't optimistic. 

All of that just makes his dominant Stage 5 victory all the more impressive.

Timing his final sprint to perfection, Cavendish raced from the pack on the final straightaway and cruised to a win by a bike length, per the Tour de France's Twitter:

Last year's points winner Peter Sagan still holds the green jacket by a comfortable margin (111 points to Cavendish's 76), but the Manx Missile reminded us all on Wednesday that when there's a straightaway, you can't bet against him.

All other factors aside, no one in this sport is faster than Cav. 

Here's a look at the updated results and standings.

Stage 5 Results

Note: A complete look at the individual time classification from Stage 5 can be found here at LeTour.com

Rank	Rider	Team	Rider No.	Time (Gap)
1	CAVENDISH Mark	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP	151	05H 31' 51"
2	BOASSON HAGEN Edvald	SKY PROCYCLING	2	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")
3	SAGAN Peter	CANNONDALE	11	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")
4	GREIIPEL Andre	LOTTO-BELISOL	24	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")
5	KRISTOFF Alexander	KATUSHA TEAM	103	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")
6	FERRARI Roberto	LAMPRE-MERIDA	145	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")
7	LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose	EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI	115	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")
8	NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas	GARMIN-SHARP	177	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")
9	LEMOINE Cyril	SOJASUN	215	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")
10	ROJAS Jose Joaquin	MOVISTAR TEAM	129	05H 31' 51" (00' 00")

Individual Standings

Note: A complete look at the overall individual time classification can be found here at LeTour.com

Rank	Rider	Team	Rider No.	Time (Gap)
1	GERRANS Simon	ORICA GREENEDGE	181	18H 19' 15"
2	IMPEY Daryl	ORICA GREENEDGE	185	18H 19' 15" (00' 00")
3	ALBASINI Michael	ORICA GREENEDGE	182	18H 19' 15" (00' 00")
4	KWIATKOWSKI Michal	OMEGA PHARMA- QUICK-STEP	153	18H 19' 16" (00' 01")
5	CHAVANEL Sylvain	OMEGA PHARMA- QUICK-STEP	152	18H 19' 16" (00' 01")
6	BOASSON HAGEN Edvald	SKY PROCYCLING	2	18H 19' 18" (00' 03")
7	FROOME Christopher	SKY PROCYCLING	1	18H 19' 18" (00' 03")
8	PORTE Richie	SKY PROCYCLING	6	18H 19' 18" (00' 03")