Cavendish rises to second in list of all-time British pro winners

Mark Cavendish bagged the 32nd win of his short professional career when he won the sprint finish at the end of the fifth stage of the Tour of California on Thursday.

That victory lifted the 23-year-old Isle of Man sprinter to second place in the Cycling Weekly league table of British professional wins.

Cavendish is already the second most prolific British male rider of all-time behind Chris Boardman, who won 41 professional races in his career.

The sprinter has bagged four wins already this season and could be on course to beat his tally of 17 wins in 2008. Bear in mind he didn't get off the mark until the Three Days of De Panne in early April last season.

This year Cavendish has won two stages of the Tour of Qatar and now two days in a row in California.

The most recent win means he overtakes Malcolm Elliott, another sprint specialist, who won 31 races in his career.

CYCLING WEEKLY LIST OF ALL-TIME BRITISH PRO WINNERS

1 Chris Boardman 41 wins

2 Mark Cavendish 32 wins

3 Malcolm Elliott 31 wins

4= Tom Simpson 24 wins

4= David Millar 24 wins

6= Barry Hoban 21 wins

6= Michael Wright 21 wins

8 Jeremy Hunt 20 wins

9 Robert Millar 16 wins

10 Sean Yates 14 wins

11= Brian Robinson 11 wins

11= Roger Hammond 11 wins

RELATED LINK

See the full list of Cycling Weekly's all-time list of British pro winners