Tour de France: Sadness and tears as Mark Cavendish breaks collarbone in Tour-ending crash

Mark Cavendish grabbed his close collarbone successful the contiguous aftermath of the crash

Race manager Christian Prudhomme said "the Tour de France is sad" aft Mark Cavendish crashed retired of what is acceptable to beryllium his last quality successful the event.

That means helium is acceptable to discontinue connected a record-equalling 34 signifier victories - the aforesaid arsenic Belgian fable Eddy Merckx.

"It is an affectional day, helium was truthful bittersweet conscionable aft the fall," said Prudhomme.

Cavendish announced successful May helium would retire astatine the extremity of the season.

"He is the champion sprinter successful the past of the Tour de France and helium wanted to effort to triumph the 35th stage," added Prudhomme.

"He is sad, we are sad, the Tour de France is sad."

After missing past year's Tour, Cavendish entered this year's contention looking to instrumentality sole ownership of the grounds for signifier victories.

The Astana Qazaqstan rider was agonisingly adjacent to doing conscionable that connected Friday, but an contented with his gears allowed Jasper Philipsen to pip him.

Cavendish was "bitterly disappointed" by that - and wrong 24 hours his contention was over.

He deed the platform aft touching wheels with Pello Bilbao and was helped into the backmost of an ambulance and taken to infirmary successful Perigueux.

"Everyone successful the squad is hurting," said Mark Renshaw, who was Cavendish's lead-out antheral from 2009-2011 and successful 2016, and joined Astana arsenic a sprint advisor anterior to the Tour.

"I won't lie, I cried."

Cavendish made his Tour debut successful 2007 and has failed to decorativeness 7 of his 14 appearances.

Mads Pedersen, who won Saturday's stage, said it had been a "pleasure" to thrust against him.

"I ever had a bully narration with him successful the peloton," said the Dane. "It's truthful bittersweet for a fable to decorativeness the Tour similar this."

Two-time victor Tadej Pogacar said: "I deliberation everybody present wanted him to triumph 1 stage, and yesterday helium was ace close. It's a atrocious moment.

"He was 1 of my favourites erstwhile we were kids. Him sprinting connected the Champs-Elysees.... we conscionable wanted to person his benignant and his legs."

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