Mark Cavendish powered across the line to claim his 16th Giro d'Italia stage victory on the final day in Hungary on Sunday. 

Contesting the Giro for the first time since winning the points classification in 2013, Cavendish was always in control after a brilliant lead out from Michael Morkov and sprinted to victory at the end of a 201-kilometre flat ride from Kaposvar to Balatonfured. 

The Briton now has 11 more Giro stage wins than anyone else in the field this year – Fernando Gaviria, Arnaud Demare and Caleb Ewan all have five. 

The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team made their move at the right moment and were rewarded with their first victory in the Grand Tour since Maximilian Schachmann won stage 18 in 2018. 

"I'm very happy. It was really nice. I've got an incredible final group here and they delivered today," Cavendish said after tasting victory on stage three. 

"In the end I had to go long, with 300 [metres] to go. I'm happy I could hang on that long for the win." 

Cavendish held off the challenges of Demare and Gaviria, who finished second and third respectively. 

Mathieu van der Poel retained the maglia rosa and an 11-second advantage over Simon Yates after leading out team-mate Jakub Mareczko, who was fifth behind Biniam Girmay. 

COMEBACK CAVENDISH 

Cavendish's haul of Grand Tour stage wins now sits at 53 – he also has 34 at the Tour de France and three at the Vuelta a Espana. Mario Cipollini (57) and the legendary Eddy Merckx (64) are the only riders to have managed more. 

Four of Cavendish's total at the Tour came last year, ending a five-year wait for a victory at one of cycling's three main events.  

Asked about the Manxman's resurgence, Van der Poel said: "We knew he was one of the favourites for today. After the Tour de France last year, we all know he can win stages again." 

STAGE RESULT  

1. Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 4:56:39  
2. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) same time  
3. Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) same time  
4. Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) same time  
5. Jakub Mareczko (Alpecin-Fenix) same time  

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS  

General Classification  

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 09:43:50  
2. Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) +0:11 
3. Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) +0:16 

Points Classification   

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 62  
2. Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) 55  
3. Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 53  

King of the Mountains  

1. Rick Zabel (Israel-Premier Tech) 5  
2. Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo-Visma) 5  
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 3