Mark Cavendish recaptured his form at the perfect moment, to earn the 26^th Tour de France stage victory of his career on stage seven.

The Manx Missile lived up to his nickname with a stunning acceleration, digging deep to out-do in-form Andre Greipel, sneaking up on the inside of the German and powering to victory.

With the opportunities for sprinters limited for much of the rest of the race, it was the perfect opportunity to prove his sprinting class has not diminished.

On a stage of relative calm, after the crashes, crosswinds, cobbles and chaos of the rest of the opening week, Cavendish also sealed a day of double celebration for British fans with Chris Froome also officially moving back into the race lead.

Froome started the stage as race leader, but without the yellow jersey – Tony Martin having been the yellow jersey overnight, but not able to start stage eight as a result of requiring surgery on his fractured collarbone.

After finishing safely in the bunch, however, it was a triumphant end to the first seven days for fans of British cycle sport as he followed Cavendish onto the podium to claim the maillot jaune.

So what did we learn? Read on for our post-race thoughts.