Britain's Mark Cavendish has claimed his seventeenth Tour de France stage today in a bunch sprint at Chateauroux. Cavendish clinched the win on the same finish that he took his first ever Tour de France stage back in 2008. Second was Italy's Alessandro Petacchi and third, Andre Greipel of Germany.

"It's a very special day for me, it was here where I won my first stage and so it's a very
sentimental moment," Cavendish said, "I have to thank the guys for all their work today, it was a hard windy day, and the guys rode hard for me all the way through. They were marvellous."

"The Tour is the biggest race, I love it more than any other, and I really wanted to do the same today as I did three years ago."

"It was an amazing leadout, I didn't have to do anything and I'm really proud of them all."

Cavendish has now taken twenty-seven Grand Tour stage wins, including two stages of the Giro d'Italia in 2011, as well as sixty-eight wins on the road since turning pro in 2007. Cavendish has taken a total of four Tour stage wins in 2008, six in 2009, five in 2010 and two in 2011. The HTC-Highroad men's squad has now racked up forty-two victories this season alone.