YORK, England (AP) – British sprinter Mark Cavendish pulled out of the Tour de France on Sunday with a serious shoulder injury likely to require surgery.
Cavendish, with his arm in a sling underneath his sweatshirt, said outside the team bus before the start of the second stage that he was “absolutely devastated.”
The 29-year-old sprinter known as the “Manx Missile” had made the Tour his main goal this season but saw his hopes of winning his first yellow jersey disappear on Saturday when he hit the ground near the finish of the first stage in his mother’s hometown of Harrogate.
Cavendish, who took responsibility for the crash after taking Australian Simon Gerrans down with him, was diagnosed with a separated shoulder.
“Normally, I bounce well when I crash,” Cavendish said at York racecourse. “I assessed my body yesterday and for the first time in my career I knew something was wrong. I really had this little bit of optimism that I might be OK this morning but it’s just impossible.”