Mark Cavendish out of the Tour de France
Mark Cavendish withdraws from the Tour de France after a crash yards from the finish line on Saturday left him with a shoulder injury.
The 29-year-old dislocated his right shoulder after colliding with Australian Simon Gerrans during the closing sprint of the first stage of the Tour in Yorkshire.
It was my fault. Mark Cavendish
Cavendish said on Saturday night that he was “gutted” about the incident, and took full responsibility for the crash.
“It was my fault. I’ll personally apologise to Simon Gerrans as soon as I get the chance,” he said. “In reality, I tried to find a gap that wasn’t really there.
“I wanted to win today, I felt really strong and was in a great position to contest the sprint thanks to the unbelievable efforts of my team.
“Sorry to all the fans that came out to support – it was truly incredible.”
Cavendish hit the tarmac in the final sprint as he used his elbows to try and push into the lead. The 25-times Tour stage winner swayed into Gerrans and both crashed to the ground seconds before they would have crossed the finish line.
His team, Omega Pharma-QuickStep, confirmed Cavendish was out of the race on Twitter.
#OPQS #TDF update: @MarkCavendish will not start Stage 2 today. More information will be provided later.
— OPQS Cycling Team (@opqscyclingteam) July 6, 2014
The yellow jersey was won on the first day by Marcel Kittel of the Gianrt-Shimano team.
What do the jerseys mean?
Yellow: worn by the leader of the general individual time classification (ie. the fastest over the stage wins it).
Green: Leader of the points competition. Points are awarded for winning intermediate sprints and for high finishes on each stage.
Red polka dot: Won by the best climber - points are awarded for the best climbers at the top of any classified slope.
White: worn by the best individual time rider aged 25 or under.
Cavendish’s withdrawal means just three Britons remain in the race – defending champion Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas of Team Sky and Simon Yates.
Hundreds of thousands of people are lining the route of the second stage of the Tour de France, from York to Sheffield.
The route has been described as one of the toughest opening stages in the history of the race, and includes some major climbs including Holme Moss and Cragg Vale.
Day three will see the riders cycling from Cambridge to London.