MANXMAN Mark Cavendish hugged and thanked each of his HTC-Columbia team mates after winning stage five of the Tour de France yesterday.

It was the 11th Tour de France win of the 25-year-old's career.

The victory came on the 153-kilometre run from Eparnay to Montargis when he crossed the line more than a bike length ahead of Germany's Gerald Ciolek.

An emotional Cav said: "Wednesday didn't go so great. I felt like I'd let the team down when I couldn't finish off with a win.

"But the team has always believed in me. They gave it 100 per cent for me today again and they never gave up on me. I really wanted to win a stage in the best bike race in the world, too, and now I've been able to do that today. It's amazing."

He added: "The pressure's been really intense, it's been really tough at times, but I want to thank all the people who have supported me though the hard moments. I've got an incredible group of friends and family, and a once-in-a-lifetime team, and they picked me up and all helped me to recover.

"We came here with ambitions to win stages, and I'll keep trying for more stages in the future."

Cavendish's win is the 55th road victory of his professional career.