The crash in stage 4's concluding sprint towards the finish line in Vittel, France unfortunately caused Cavendish to suffer too serious damage for him to be able to continue in this year's Tour de France.

Cavendish was pushed into the race barriers at high velocity by World Champion Peter Sagan, who was later expelled from the Tour because of his violent and aggressive actions.

Medical examinations carried out at the hospital in Nancy, France, have confirmed that Cavendish has fractured his right shoulder blade as a result of the crash.

"Mark suffered a fracture to the right scapula. Fortunately, no surgery is required at this stage, and most importantly there is no nerve damage. He's been withdrawn from the race for obvious medical reasons, and we'll continue monitoring him over the coming days," Dimension Data Team doctor Adrian Rotunno explained.

What looked to be a strong comeback to racing for Cavendish has ended before it really began.

“I'm obviously massively disappointed to get this news about the fracture," Cavendish told Roadcycling.com. "The team was incredible today. They executed to perfection what we wanted to do this morning. I feel I was in a good position to win and to lose that and even having to leave the Tour de France, a race I've built my whole career around, is really sad. I wish the best of luck to my teammates for the rest of the race. Now, I'm looking forward to watching the race on TV."

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