Mark Cavendish pulls out of Tour de France after dislocating shoulder in fall during opening stage

MARK Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France after dislocating his shoulder in Saturday’s opening stage.

Britain's Mark Cavendish injured receives medical assistance after a fall near the finish line at the end of the 190.5 km first stage of the 101st edition of the Tour de France cycling race on July 5, 2014 between Leeds and Harrogate, northern England. The 2014 Tour de France gets underway on July 5 in the streets of Leeds and ends on July 27 down the Champs-Elysees in Paris. AFP PHOTO / JEFF PACHOUD

BRITISH former world champion Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France after dislocating his shoulder in Saturday’s opening stage, his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team announced on Sunday.

The 29-year-old sprinter suffered the injury when he fell heavily in a high-speed crash after colliding with Australian Simon Gerrans close to the finishing line of the 190.5km stage from Leeds to Harrogate.

Mark Cavendish lies prone on the tarmac after colliding with Australian cyclist Simon Gerrans.

He underwent X-rays in hospital on Saturday night, which revealed the shoulder was not broken but dislocated, and the team decided to wait overnight to see if he was fit to continue the race before ruling him out on Sunday morning.

Cavendish, who has won 25 Tour stages in his career, had been fired up to win the opening stage in Harrogate, where his mother was born.

He had been well-placed on the run-in before the dramatic crash, which saw him hit the tarmac heavily on his right shoulder and brought a number of other riders tumbling down with him and Gerrans.

Cavendish clutches his dislocated shoulder as he receives medical assistance.

The Manxman was seen slumped on the ground, clutching his collarbone and clearly in pain before he was taken to hospital by ambulance to check nothing was broken.

But he was quick to hold up his hands and accept the blame for the crash. “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,” he said on Saturday night.

“In reality, I tried to find a gap that wasn’t really there. I wanted to win today, I felt really strong and was in a great position to contest the sprint thanks to the unbelievable efforts of my team.”

The Tour continues on Sunday with a punishing 200km ride from York to Sheffield.