Mark Cavendish will not be on the start line of stage two of the Tour de France from Sheffield to York due to the injuries he sustained in a crash yesterday.
He came down with Simon Gerrans in the sprint finish to Harrogate and although he crossed the line, he was taken to hospital where it was revealed that he had underlined ligament ruptures with an AC-joint dislocation.
“Mark is out of the race, he will not start,” a spokesperson from Omega Pharma-QuickStep told Cyclingnews before the start.
“Yes, he will be with his team at the start but there’s no way that he’s going to start the race. It’s very unfortunate.”
The injured rider traveled with the team to the start, where he spoke briefly with the media.
Cavendish came out from the team bus with his arm in a sling and confirmed that he and the team had taken the decision to pull out at breakfast.
“We knew last night and I knew straight away because normally in crashes I bounce back straight away. This was the first time in my career that I knew something was up, but I wanted to finish and I was able to do that, but I was in pain,” he said. – Cycling News
