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Cav confirmed as out of Tour de France

Sun, 06 Jul 2014

Mark Cavendish will miss the rest of the Tour de France after crashing in the final moments of yesterday's first stage in Yorkshire.

The British sprinter dislocated his shoulder in a heavy fall near the finish line in Harrogate - his mother's home town.

The rider, from the Isle of Man, collided with Australian Simon Gerrans in the last 200 metres and was thrown to the ground.

Cavendish lay clutching his shoulder and after cycling painfully across the line, the 29-year-old was taken to hospital.

The cyclist, who competes for the Omega Pharma-QuickStep team, later said: "I'm gutted about the crash today.

"It was my fault. I'll personally apologise to Simon Gerrans as soon as I get the chance. In reality, I tried to find a gap that wasn't really there."

X-rays were taken on Saturday night which confirmed the injury.

His team then decided to wait overnight to see if he was fit to continue the race before ruling him out on Sunday morning.

The first stage lasting 190km began in Leeds and was won by German rider Marcel Kittel. Team Sky's Chris Froome finished sixth.

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