The legendary British sprinter saw his final appearance at the Tour de France come to a premature end on stage eight; Cavendish was treated in the back of an ambulance after a painful crash in the peloton brought him down; Manx Missile ends career on 34 stage wins, level with Eddy Merckx
Mark Cavendish’s legendary Tour de France ends in agony after crashing on stage eight (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Mark Cavendish is out of his final Tour de France following a crash on stage eight, with a confirmed broken collarbone.
Less than 24 hours after he came within a few metres of a record-breaking 35th stage victory in Bordeaux, Cavendish’s outstanding Tour career ended in the back of an ambulance, the anguish on his face clear to see after an innocuous touch of wheels brought an early end to his final appearance in the race he loves.
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Cavendish went down hard and held his shoulder after a crash in the peloton around 60km from the finish of stage eight from Libourne to Limoges, a stage eventually won by Mads Pedersen.
It means Cavendish, who announced in May that he will retire at the end of the season, will finish his career level with Belgian Eddy Merckx on 34 Tour stage wins.
Cavendish was agonisingly close to breaking the record on Friday, getting the jump on Jasper Philipsen on the sprint to the line in Bordeaux, only for his gears to jump when he was trying to apply full power.
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Cavendish won his first Tour stages back in 2008, taking four in total, and chalked up 20 in his first four participations.
He enjoyed his last four stage wins in 2021, equalling Merckx’s record with his victory on stage 13 in Carcassonne.
