Mark Cavendish broke a collarbone as he crashed out of what is set to be his final Tour de France before retirement.
The Manxman, 38, was involved in an innocuous-looking crash about 60km from the finish of stage eight – a 200.7km run from Libourne to Limoges.
Cavendish had started this year’s Tour on 34 stage victories – sharing the record with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx.
Jasper Philipsen denied him a 35th win during Friday’s stage, then came second behind Mads Pedersen on Saturday.
Cavendish’s race came to a premature end when he hit the deck after touching wheels with Pello Bilbao. With pain etched on his face, he was helped into the back of an ambulance and taken to hospital in Perigueux.
His Astana Qazaqstan team confirmed initial suspicions he had broken a collarbone, and said the break had also impacted on a previous shoulder injury.
“Everyone in the team is hurting,” said Mark Renshaw, who was Cavendish’s lead-out man from 2009-2011 and in 2016 and joined Astana as a sprint adviser prior to the Tour.
“It’s hard because we know his shape’s here, we know he has the legs. I won’t lie, I cried.”
Cavendish was the fifth rider to abandon this year’s Tour, after Enric Mas, Richard Carapaz, Jacopo Guarnieri and Luis Leon Sanchez.
Steff Cras later became the sixth after a late pile-up involving Simon Yates and Mikel Landa. Belgium’s Cras – a general classification contender – blamed a spectator for causing the crash.
Cavendish made his Tour debut in 2007 and has failed to finish seven of his 14 appearances.
He did not compete in last year’s race, having won four stages in 2021 to move level with five-time Tour winner Merckx.
‘Everybody here wanted him to win one stage’ – reaction from the peloton
Two-time champion Tadej Pogacar: “When I heard he had crashed, it was a sad moment because he was in good shape. I think everybody here wanted him to win one stage and yesterday he was super close. It’s a bad moment.
“He was one of my favourites when we were kids. Him sprinting on the Champs-Elysees…. we just wanted to have his style and his legs. They were good moments.”
Race leader Jonas Vingegaard: “I spoke with him a few times in my first Tour de France and again this year.
“He is a super nice guy and I would have loved to have seen him take the 35th stage win. I still remember when I was a kid and I was watching him and all his celebrations. He was my big idol.
“It is really a shame for him and I hope he is OK.”
Stage winner Mads Pedersen: “It was a pleasure to be able to ride with Mark Cavendish. I always had a good relationship with him in the peloton. It’s so sad for a legend to finish the Tour like this.
“He still owes me a jersey, for a jersey swap. Hopefully I can do some of the last races he does.”
Analysis
Matt Warwick, BBC Sport
There have been a few fairytale moments in the career of Mark Cavendish, and taking sole ownership of the Tour stage win record he shares with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx was looking more and more likely to be another.
He was pipped on the line the previous stage – his explosive, low-set style becoming more effective as the race went on.
But a low-profile shunt in the middle of the peloton at relatively low speed appears to have ended one of the most high-profile and glittering relationships ever with this famous three-week race.
The 38-year-old has terrified rivals in France since 2008 with a spirited, no-nonsense approach to the sport that complemented his ‘Manx Missile’ nickname.
Cavendish has said the record itself was of little importance to him – more so his ability to fight, and win, in the moment.
And you can’t put a number on that.
What else happened on stage eight?
Pedersen, who won in Saint-Etienne last year, claimed his second stage win at a Tour after benefiting from the superb work of his Lidl-Trek team in the closing kilometres.
While Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey, the late crash meant Briton Yates lost 47 seconds and dropped from fourth to sixth in the general classification.
He slipped 21 seconds behind his twin brother Adam, who is fifth overall and now the highest-placed British rider.
On Sunday, the race will travel 182.4km from Saint-Leonard-de-Noblat to the the dormant volcano of Puy de Dome, where the steep final climb is expected to ignite another GC battle.
Stage eight results
1. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) 4hrs 12mins 26secs
2. Jasper Philipsen (Bel/Alpecin-Deceuninck) Same time
3. Wout van Aert (Bel/Jumbo-Visma)
4. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/Jayco-AlUla)
5. Nils Eekhoff (Ned/DSM)
6. Bryan Coquard (Fra/Cofidis)
7. Jasper De Buyst (Bel/Lotto-Dstny)
8. Rasmus Tiller (Nor/Uno-X)
9. Corbin Strong (NZ/Israel-Premier Tech)
10. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates)
General classification after stage eight
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 34hrs 09mins 38secs
2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +25secs
3. Jai Hindley (Aus/Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 34secs
4. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +3mins 30secs
5. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +3mins 40secs
6. Simon Yates (GB/Team Jayco-AlUla) +4mins 01secs
7. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +4mins 03secs
8. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM) +4mins 43secs
9. Thomas Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time
10. Sepp Kuss (US/Jumbo-Visma) +5mins 28secs
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