Mark Cavendish celebrated his first Tour de France stage win since 2016 as he sprinted to an emotional victory in Fougeres on day four.
Replicating his win there in 2015, Cavendish beat Nacer Bouhanni and Jasper Philipsen for his 31st career Tour stage success after breakaway rider Brent Van Moer was denied 200 metres from the finishing line.
The win caps a fairy-tale return to the Tour for Cavendish, who feared his career was over in the winter before capitalising on the lifeline offered to him by the Deceuninck-QuickStep team.
Cavendish was a late addition to the team's Tour squad following an injury for Ireland's Sam Bennett, who won the Green Jersey last year.
The Isle of Man native collapsed in tears as he was congratulated by team-mates and rivals following a dramatic conclusion to the 150.4km stage from Redon.
Van Moer, part of a two-man breakaway on the day, went solo with 14km to go, building a lead of around a minute which stubbornly refused to drop as the peloton struggled to get organised behind.
But after Cavendish's Dequeninck-QuickStep team took up the chase - led by world champion Julian Alaphilippe - Van Moer was finally reeled in within sight of the line before Cavendish rounded Philipsen on the line.
🦅 An aerial view of @MarkCavendish's winning sprint!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 29, 2021
🦅 Une vue aérienne du sprint final du @MarkCavendish !#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/ZbDDGryvSL
The 36-year-old, who has battled demons on and off the bike in recent years, struggled to compose himself in his podium interview.
"I don't know what to say," he said. "Just being here is special enough. I didn't think I would ever get to come back to this race.
"You just see what a great team this is. You've got the green jersey, the world champion Julian Alaphilippe coming to do the final pull just to try to catch the breakaway, putting everything in.
"So many people didn't believe in me but these guys do."
Netherlands' Mathieu van der Poel retained the overall leader's yellow jersey, eight seconds clear of Alaphilippe.
Ireland's Dan Martin, who is a climbing specialist, was 119th overall on the fourth stage, with the Israel Start-Up Nation rider 69th in the general classification, eight minutes 30 seconds adrift of Van der Poel.
