MARSEILLE, France -- Mark Cavendish will never be the greatest Tour de France rider, because he will never win the race five times like Eddy Merkcx of Belgium and Frenchman Bernard Hinault. Still, the sprinter with thighs like thick hams could outdo both of those legends -- by winning more stages than them at cyclings premier race. By Cavendishs warp-speed standards, his 24th stage win on Wednesday was like taking candy from a baby. The teammates who led Cavendish to the finish, sucking him along in their wheels, building up his speed, were toiling like clockwork. Stamping on his pedals, head down, thighs pumping like pistons, Cavendish then whooshed off alone for the last 150 metres (yards), leaving everyone else in his wake. Cavendish was carrying so much momentum and this win in Marseille, Frances second-largest city, was so comfortable that he was able to sit up in the saddle and make a hand motion like cracking a whip as he crossed the line. One more stage win will tie Cavendish with Andre Leducq, the Frenchman who got 25 stage wins in the 1920s and 1930s, putting him third on the all-time list. Beyond Leducq is Hinault, who notched up 28 wins in the 1970s and 80s. Merckxs monument is 34, won from 1969 to 1975. Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain also won five Tours, but didnt win as many stages as Hinault and Merckx. Anquetil won 16; Indurain got 12. All seven of Lance Armstrong Tour wins were stripped from him for doping. This 100th Tour is the first since Armstrongs fall last year. Victorias Ryder Hesjedal was the top Canadian in the fifth stage, finishing 103rd. Hesjedal, who confirmed Wednesday that hes racing with a broken rib, is 14th in the overall classification, 17 seconds behind Gerrans. Quebec Citys David Veilleux is 143rd, 25 minutes and 28 seconds off the pace, while Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., is 169th, 33:23 off the pace. Cavendish makes out that he isnt fixated on Hinault or Merckxs numbers. He notes that for many riders, winning just one stage at the 110-year-old Tour -- let alone the 11 he needs to overhaul Merckx -- is a career-defining feat. "You have to show the Tour de France the respect it deserves," he said. But then Cavendish isnt any other rider. Before this edition, he collected on average nearly five wins at every Tour since 2008. In 2009, he got six. He won the last four sprint finishes on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, where he is unbeaten since 2009. While Merckxs record is still a way off, Hinault and most certainly Leducq look within Cavendishs grasp. "Obviously I aim to win multiple stages each year. But to set any goals, any number ... it does one of two things: It sets you up to fail for something or it puts like a mark on what you want to achieve and it can kind of stop you trying to move forward," he said. Were Cavendish to overtake Hinault, it wouldnt mean he is a better overall rider than the famously bad-tempered "Badger," who was strong on every terrain. But in a sprint, Cavendish has no equal, at least in this generation. Although Cavendish downplays the chase for stage-win milestones, he is certainly very aware of them. The Tour director, Christian Prudhomme, says that more than a year ago, at the Tour of Oman, he quietly tested Cavendishs knowledge of Tour de France history and was delighted when he rattled off the names of Andre Darrigade, who won 22 stages in the 1950s and 60s, as well as Leducq, Hinault, Merckx and their respective totals. "He is aware of what does it take ... to become No. 1 on the list of most winning riders ever," confirmed Rolf Aldag, one of the managers of Cavendishs Omega Pharma-Quick Step team. "He has a chance to make history," he said. "Its a goal, its a target." Cavendish would be the first to note that, unlike Merckx, he doesnt win alone. His teammates worked tirelessly to manoeuvre him into place in Marseille. They helped reel in breakaway riders who scooted off ahead and then delivered him like express mail to within sight of the line. Omegas Italian rider, Matteo Trentin, surged to the front and pedalled as hard as he could up to and around the final left-hand bend, pulling Gert Steegmans and Cavendish behind him. Exhausted, Trentin then made way for Steegmans, who led Cavendish at top speed to the signboard marking 150 metres to go. From there, the man known as the "Manx Missile," because he comes from the Isle of Man, did the rest. "Perfect, man, perfect," Trentin said. "The basic plan never changes," Aldag said. "The basic plan is always we believe hes the fastest sprinter and we do everything that needs to be done to try to make him win." "I didnt do anything," Cavendish said. "Gert went with such speed that I could accelerate off his wheel and just carried on the speed he delivered me at." Stage 6 on Thursday -- 176.5 kilometres (110 miles) from Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier -- should also suit Cavendish, because it is flat. With his short, muscular frame, he doesnt like steep climbs. Simon Gerrans of Australia will again wear the yellow jersey, after keeping the race lead on Wednesdays bumpy 228.5-kilometre (142-mile) trek from the beach resort of Cagnes-sur-Mer. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . After falling 5-0 on home ice in a game that could have tied them for second in the wild card standings, Washington head coach Adam Oates had some strong words for Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin. Custom NCAA Jerseys . GQ Lundqvist quite well.Three rounds, and nearly two months later, will the Kings have the strength to reach the summit of the Empire State to claim the cup?Truer words have never been spoken. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/ . The 33-year-old defender has spent his entire career at Chelsea, scoring 57 goals in 621 appearances. 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