Mark Cavendish won his sixth stage of the Tour de France as the race came to an end on Sunday on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Sprint star Cavendish stormed clear down the finishing straight after another perfect lead out from his Columbia HTC team-mates.

Spain's Alberto Contador finished in the bunch to confirm his overall victory - his second in three years in Le Tour.

"On a personal level, I had a difficult Tour and now I'll be sure to enjoy this win. I'm extremely happy. The last day was great,'' Contador told the race's official website.

"At times I felt like a child again. I feel a great sense of relief, a release of tension.''

Andy Schleck was second, with seven-time winner Lance Armstrong third after returning to the tour after a gap of four years away.

"I came here to do my best and I came across some guys who were clearly better than me,'' Armstrong admitted.

"I don't have any regrets. I got put out a couple of times but, considering my age and recent racing, it's not a bad performance overall.''

Bradley Wiggins finished fourth in the general classification to join Robert Millar, fourth in 1984, as the highest-placed British finisher in the race.

Cavendish's stage victory - the first ever by a Briton on the Champs Elysees - means he has now won 10 stages in the race dring his career. During this year's tour, he overhauled Barry Hoban (eight stage wins) as the most successful Briton in the race.

The 24-year-old, completing the Tour for the first time at the third attempt, told British Eurosport: "I said all along, I wanted to win on the Champs Elysees.

"Every single sprinter in the world, dreams of crossing the line with their hands in the air on the Champs Elysees.

"There was a lot of fighting with other teams trying to come through but we kept it so controlled.''

Asked about his ambitions for next year, Cavendish said he had unfinished business in the contest for the green jersey - the classification awarded to the best all-round sprinter, which was won by Norway's Thor Hushovd.

Cavendish added: "I didn't win the green jersey did I?

"But I'm happy with six stages. I said I would be content with one stage and reaching Paris. we've had a beautiful three weeks here.

"To win is the feeling I like best so we will try to target the green jersey next year.''

Hushovd was delighted to have claimed the points classification.

"I think I won this jersey because I'm more experienced,'' the Norwegian said.

"I know how to win it. I've done it before and I fought for the jersey for many, many years.

"Cavendish is the fastest sprinter but I'm the most consistent one. That's why I won this jersey.''

The polka-dot jersey for the King of the Mountains went to Italy's Franco Pellizotti, while the white jersey for best young rider was won by Schleck.

Stage 21 report (Montereau-Fault-Yonne to Paris Champs-Elysees, 164km): 1 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Team Columbia - HTC 4hrs 2mins 18secs, 2 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia - HTC at same time, 3 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Slipstream at same time, 4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram at same time, 5 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Francaise des Jeux at same time, 6 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team at same time, 7 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne at same time, 8 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre - NGC at same time, 9 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas at same time, 10 William Bonnet (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom at same time, 11 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at same time, 12 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Agritubel at same time, 13 Nikolai Troussov (Rus) Team Katusha at same time, 14 Cycril Lemoine (Fra) Skil-Shimano at same time, 15 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne at same time, 16 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Silence - Lotto at same time, 17 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step at same time, 18 Steven de Jongh (Ned) Quick Step at same time, 19 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank at same time, 20 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) BBOX Bouygues Telecom at same time

Selected others: 55 Bradley Wiggins (Gbr) Garmin - Slipstream 4hrs 2mins 18secs, 138 David Millar (Gbr) Garmin - Slipstream 4hrs 2mins 48secs, 139 Charles Wegelius (Gbr) Silence - Lotto at same time