Mark Cavendish may already have won two stages in the Tour de France, but the 23-year-old Manx sprinter, a key member of Great Britain's Olympic hopefuls, is not planning to head to Beijing just yet. Cavendish, already a double world champion in track racing, has established himself as the fastest sprinter in road cycling with his two exhilarating successes in the first week of this year's Tour.

He sped past his rivals on the Boulevard Lascrosses in Toulouse on Saturday afternoon to become the first British rider to win two stages in the same Tour since Barry Hoban, who won two of his career total of eight stages in 1973.

Victory in Toulouse, on city streets made slick by driving rain, was Cavendish's most impressive success on the road yet, demonstrating agility, acceleration and timing. “It was brilliant,” Cavendish said. “I can't take the credit. It just so happens that I'm British but I ride for an international team [Team Columbia] and it takes them to get me to that point.

“I've had to wait ten years to do this, but I can assure you it's been worth the wait. My team controlled the race all day. With them around me I have got the best possible protection.”

Yesterday's ninth stage, the first in the Pyrenees, from Toulouse to Bagnères-de-Bigorre, was won by Riccardo Ricco, a Tour debutant from Italy, already a stage winner at Super-Besse in the Massif Central. The 24-year-old rode clear of the lead group on the Col d'Aspin to take a victory that lifted him to 21st place, more than 2 minutes behind Kim Kirchen, the overall race leader from Luxembourg.

Ricco, who has been tested five times by AFLD, the French anti-doping agency, since the Tour began, said: “I know there's a lot of very strong competitors but I feel very good. It is important for me to win stages and I think I am very competitive.”

Cavendish, who started the Tour with one eye on an early exit in order to prepare for Beijing, now hopes to survive the mountains and lead the peloton down the Champs Elysées on July 27. “I'll keep going,” Cavendish said. “I have no intention of stopping. It wouldn't be fair on my team-mates, my sponsor or the organisers. I'll give it 100 per cent.”