The question, though, is whether the Briton expended too much energy on the climbs, leaving him struggling to claim his fourth stage victory on this Tour, his 19th in four editions, and to retain his points classification green jersey.

“The green jersey means so much to me. If I could keep it until Paris, it would be unbelievable,” said the Briton who finished 27 minutes off the pace, just inside the time limit, in Saturday’s ride up to Plateau de Beille. “I wouldn’t want to have suffered so much in the mountains for nothing.

“There’s two more bunch sprints, one in Montpellier and the one in Paris. It will be difficult because I tire out little by little. But I’ll just keep fighting, give it my best shot and see what happens,” Cavendish had said after his third stage win in Lavaur.

He needs to win both stages to equal his 2010 haul and he would match his 2008 tally should he win in Montpellier, a feat in itself given the few flat stages in this Tour.

Montpellier has always suited sprinters and the last two individual winners in the town were English-speakers - Robbie McEwen in 2005 and South African Robbie Hunter in 2007.

In the battle for the green jersey, Cavendish leads Spain’s Jose Joaquin Rojas by 13 points and Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert by 24.

Frenchman Thomas Voeckler goes into Sunday’s stage as overall leader, one minute 49 seconds ahead of Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck.