Mark Cavendish has abandoned the Tour de France after crashing during stage eight. The Astana-Qazaqstan rider was shown leaving the race in an ambulance, wearing a sling, after hitting the ground on the road to Limoges on Saturday.
The Manx sprinter was close to beating the record for Tour stage wins on Friday evening, narrowly missing out in the bunch finish on stage seven. He suffered a mechanical in that sprint, later describing himself as "devastated" at the result.
A touch of wheels with about 61km to go of stage eight saw Cavendish hit the deck, and appear to break his collarbone. He was unable to remount his bike, and was later taken to an ambulance, with his abandonment confirmed by the race's organisers.
Astana tweeted: "Mark Cavendish crashed 60 km from finish with Pello Bilbao and was forced to abandon. He left the race in the ambulance. Updates will follow as soon as there is more news."
This Tour de France, Cavendish's 14th, was supposed to be his swan song, a chance for him to deliver one more win, a result fans, the race's organisers, and other riders wanted.
"We don’t give any presents,” Philipsen said, post-win. “It’s insane that he was up there, and really hats off to him. It’s a pleasure to fight against him for victory.”
“The whole experience of the Tour, you can’t describe it,” he said in a press conference ahead of the race. “This race gives me the most incredible emotions. But unfortunately you can’t really analyse it and appreciate it until afterwards.
“It’s the same every year, and I know it’s my last one, but it’s still the same, I have a job to do.”
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