Vintage Cavendish blasts critics after stunning sprint

Mark Cavendish silenced his critics with a stunning win in the fifth stage of the Tour de France to claim his 16th career victory, become the ninth most successful rider in Tour history and reignite the race for the green jersey.

And having blown away the field with an astonishing finish, which saw him explode from the pack in the last 50m, he then dedicated his triumph to his pet dog, who died last week, before revealing that he was bedevilled by "problems" in his head that he could not even begin to explain.

In typical Cavendish fashion he then rounded on his critics, accused his former team mate Andre Greipel of barging him and announced: "It's always sweet to silence the ignoramuses, to overcome adversity and doubt."

And, in an apparent swipe at the judges, he added: "Maybe people don't like my character so try to do things not in a sporting way by disqualifying me or taking away points. All I ask is consistency, otherwise it becomes personal."

It was a vintage performance from Cavendish on and off the bike.

The finish was not expected to suit the Manxman thanks to the incline, preceded by a steep hill two miles from the line. And he admitted that he had gone "massively into the red" to keep himself in contention for the stage.

But it was clear that Cevendish was in a vengeful mood having been boxed in by the rest of the field during the intermediate sprint earlier in the stage and wanted to prove his point.

His efforts certainly impressed the onlookers. Mick Cleary in the Telegraph was moved to comment: "It was a day of several crashes and enormous drama but above all it will be remembered for a triumph of the spirit, a refusal to bow when adversity threatened. The boy is pure box office."

Ivan Speck in the Mail was even more impressed. He wrote: "Mesmerising on the bike, mad off it. Nobody does shock and awe like Mark Cavendish."

There was plenty of drama elsewhere during the stage with both Bradley Wiggins and Alberto Contador involved in crashes. Wiggins recovered and is still in sixth place, 10 seconds behind the leader, while Contador remains 90 seconds further back.

But the tour is over for one motorbike outrider who has been thrown off the race after colliding with Danish rider Nicki Sorensen during stage five. The accident happened 77km from the finish when the driver, who was carrying an official photographer, clipped Sorensen's bike sending the Dane tumbling to the ground. ·