Cavendish sprints to third Tour stage win

(CNN) -- Isle of Man sprinter Mark Cavendish made cycling history on Thursday when he became the first-ever Briton to claim three stage wins in a single Tour de France.

Cavendish dominated a bunch sprint at the end of the 167.5km 12th stage to Narbonne, finishing ahead of Frenchman Sebastien Chavanel and Belgian Gert Steegmans.

"This was the hardest of all three sprints. It was really fast all day," said Cavendish, who overtakes Barry Hoban, twice a two-time stage winner in a single edition of the race.

"I'm glad I could do that for my team-mates especially for how hard they've worked in the last few days," added the Team Columbia rider.

Australian Cadel Evans retains the race leader's yellow jersey with just a one second advantage over Luxembourg's Frank Schleck.

American Christian Vande Velde is still in third place, 38 seconds behind, while Austrian Bernhard Kohl remains fourth on 46 seconds.

After a day marked by scandal, then an ambitious breakaway that was caught inside the final 10km, there were few changes to the race's general classification, save for the disappearance of Italian climber Riccardo Ricco.

The 24-year-old Italian began the day in ninth place overall but finished it in police custody after it was revealed he had tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO.

It meant his entire Saunier Duval team left the race under a cloud on Thursday morning, minutes before the riders left the start line in Lavelanet.

Cavendish, however, brought some smiles back to faces after another textbook sprint. The 23-year-old launched his final drive in the final 200 meters and was simply unbeatable, coasting over the finish line holding up three fingers to signal the number of wins on the race.

He now becomes Britain's record holder for the number of stage wins in a single edition, surpassing Hoban who has a record eight stage wins, scoring doubles in 1969 and 1973.

"It was a difficult finish and there was a lot of wind at the end but that just shows the strength of our team," added Cavendish, who admitted that struggling to get over the Pyrenees had left him depleted.

"I didn't win with the same margin I did on my previous stage wins, and that shows how tired I am now, but I still managed to win nonetheless. I'm really happy."

Evans will go into Friday's 13th stage, a 182km ride from Narbonne to Nimes, unlikely to come under threat from his main yellow jersey rivals.

Part two in the battle for the yellow jersey is not likely to begin until Sunday when the 15th stage, over 182km, from Embrun to Prato Nevoso in Italy kicks off three stages in the Alps.