Chateauroux, France ? Mark Cavendish of Britain won a sprint to take the longest stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, and Stefan Schumacher of Germany retained the overall lead.

Cavendish beat Oscar Freire of Spain and veteran sprinter Erik Zabel of Germany on the line in the fifth stage, completing the flat, 144-mile run from Cholet to Chateauroux in 5 hours, 27 minutes, 52 seconds.

Three Frenchmen – Lilian Jegou, Nicolas Vogondy and Florent Brard – hit the front after seven miles and at one point had a lead of more than eight minutes. However, the field never seemed concerned, and the breakaway was caught just before the finish.

Schumacher held on to his 12-second overall lead from Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg and David Millar of Britain.