Green jersey favourite Jasper Philipsen crashed out of the Tour de France after riders clashed in the intermediate sprint on Monday's stage three, breaking his collarbone in the process.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck riders was the only one to come down, after Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) bounced off another rider, Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty) and into Philipsen, who fell heavily on his shoulder.
The incident took place at Isbergue, as the riders made their way from Valenciennes to Dunkerque on the 178.3km stage in northern France.
After being helped to the verge, Philipsen, sporting a badly torn green points jersey, was surrounded by team staff and Tour doctors, who examined his right shoulder and ultimately brought him a sling.
It was later confirmed that the Belgian had a displaced fracture of the right collarbone, with surgery required, and at least one broken rib.
One of Philipsen's Alpecin team-mates could be seen remonstrating with Coquard in a slow motion replay of the sprint's conclusion. It was won by Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), with Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) second and Philipsen's team-mate Kaden Groves third.
Neither Rex nor Coquard were obviously at fault over the crash, which may be deemed a 'racing incident' by the Tour jury – we will update as details are announced.
Alongside a photo of Philipsen in green and team-mate Mathieu van der Poel in yellow, the team posted on social media: "Joy and sorrow so close together. Jasper Philipsen is forced to abandon Le Tour after a heavy crash during the intermediate sprint. An update on his medical condition will follow as soon as possible. We are all with you, Jasper!"
Philipsen's abandon means that last year's green jersey winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) now becomes the virtual de facto leader in the competition – at least until the end of the stage.
Philipsen was one of the key favourites to win sprint stages and the green jersey – which he was wearing when he crashed – and had already won the first stage and worn the yellow jersey on stage two.
Up until this moment, the Alpecin-Deceuninck team had enjoyed a dream start to the race, with Philipsen sprinting to victory on stage one in Lille to take the yellow jersey and take his total of Tour de France stage wins into double figures.
The next day Van der Poel carried on the work, taking a rare Tour de France victory at Boulogne-sur-Mer following a lumpy and Classics-esque finale. He was the fastest finisher in a big group of overall contenders, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) second and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) third.
His win saw him lift the jersey from the shoulders of his team-mate and he could well wear it until stage six, after the Caen time trial the day before has shuffled the field in favour of the GC riders.
However, the mood in the team this evening will be sombre to say the least, as they attempt to console Philipsen, and come to terms with the potential Tour glory that his retirement took with it.
