Mark Cavendish has said he was getting tired after the Pyrenees, but he showed no signs of fatigue in winning his fourth stage in the 2008 Tour de France on July 18, outracing his competitors in a bunch sprint on the streats of Nimes.

Three-times green jersey winner Robbie McEwen could not even get closer to the 23-year-old from the Isle of Man, who is starting to prove his self-annointed tag of "fastest man in the world" might be more than just a boast.

Less than a kilometre from the finish line, Cavendish was blocked by riders ahead of him, but once the group opened up for the mass sprint and gave him an opportunity to race clear, the outcome was beyond any doubt.

“I was starting to seize up but I had to kick again with 150m to go and I’m pleased to be able to win again,” Cavendish said, as quoted by the Tour's official website, letour.com.

Rising to joint-second in the sprinters' classification, Cavendish can realistically challenge current leader Oscar Freire for the green jersey of the best sprinter, should he prove able to survive the upcoming gruelling mountain stages in the Alps.

Cavendish has said he would take it one day at a time and try to stay in the Tour, but having described the Beijing Olympics as being one of his season's biggest goals, it remains to be seen whether the Briton will put everything he has in chasing the green jersey. In 2007, his first Tour appearance, he abandoned as soon as the race entered the mountains, although he was also hurt in crashes in the early stages of the race.

No changes at the top of the overall standings, Australian Cadel Evans still keeping his one-second advantage over Frank Schleck. In the climbers' rankings, Sebastian Lang kept his polka-dot jersey as well.

The next stage will take the peloton 194.5km from Nimes to Digne-les-Bains at the foot of the Alps, where the main Tour contenders will once again take centre stage.