Mark Cavendish Withdraws from Tour de France After Hospitalisation from Crash

Dimension Data sprinter Mark Cavendish was taken to a hospital to check for further injuries after a heavy crash during Stage 4 of the 2017 Tour de France on Tuesday.

The Brit hit the tarmac after coming into contact with Peter Sagan and emerged with plenty of cuts and bruises. His participation in the remainder of La Grande Boucle was in doubt.

Dimension Data confirmed the news:

Later in the day, the BBC reported Cavendish withdrew from the event. 

Cavendish and Sagan came together in a controversial collision during the bunch sprint for the stage win. Both riders appeared to be at fault, with Cavendish diving into a hole that was fast closing and Sagan making far too much use of his elbows. With the Manx Missile already on his way down, the world champion appeared to give him an extra shove that didn't help matters.

Eurosport UK shared this photo of the crucial moment:

Sagan somehow recovered to finish in second place―although the result was later scratched as punishment―while Cavendish was able to bike and walk back to the team bus before heading to hospital.

Per Patrick Fletcher of Cyclingnews.com, the Slovak apologised immediately, while Cavendish provided an update on the extent of his injuries:

"Injury-wise I'm going to go and get it checked out. I will definitely need stitches in this finger, it's bleeding a lot. With the shoulder, it might be something to do with a previous injury, it's sat backwards so I'm not sure if I've done something to the ligament. I'm not a doctor but from the feelings I'm not optimistic."

Both riders had been chasing history in the 2017 Tour, with Cavendish closing in on Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage wins―the Manx Missile has 30―and Sagan hoping to win his sixth straight green jersey. However, with Cavendish out with injury and Sagan disqualified as a result of the crash, history will have to wait.