Mark Cavendish's attempt to break the record for most Tour de France stage wins has ended after he was forced to withdraw from the race following a crash on Saturday.
Friday saw him come within a few metres of a historic victory in Bordeaux, while Saturday saw his final appearance at Tour de France cut short after he sustained a suspected broken collarbone.
A touch of wheels caused Cavendish to crash 60km from the finish of stage eight. He held his shoulder in agony and was unable to get up.
Mads Pedersen won the stage, powering up the slight rise to the finish line and holding on to deny Jasper Philipsen, who was charging hard, a fourth victory in this Tour.
However, there was only a subdued sense of celebration afterwards, with Philipsen paying a tribute to Cavendish.
“For me, it was a pleasure to be able to race with Mark,” the former world champion said.
“I always had a good relationship with him in the peloton. It’s so sad that such a legend has to finish the Tour like this,
“I wish all the best for Mark. Hopefully, I can do the last race he’s going to do to honour a legend who stops in cycling.”
Mark Renshaw, a former teammate of Cavendish, was brought in by the Astana-Qazaqstan team as a consultant to help a team with little sprinting pedigree before Cavendish’s arrival this year.
When he realized that it was over for his friend, he admitted to crying in the team car.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme said: “It is an emotional day. He was so sad just after the fall. He is the best sprinter in the history of the Tour de France and he wanted to try to win the 35th stage.
“He was second yesterday and for two or three seconds we thought he would succeed in his goal, and today it’s over. He is sad, we are sad, the Tour de France is sad.”
Saturday’s unhappy ending means that Cavendish, who announced in May that he will retire at the end of the season, will finish his career level with Eddy Merckx on 34 Tour stage wins.
