British cycling great Mark Cavendish is out of the Tour de France after crashing during the eighth stage of the race between Libourne and Limoges, France Saturday morning.
Cavendish, 38, fell off his bike with more than 60 kilometers to go in the eighth of 21 stages of the race. He lay on the pavement holding his arm while some cyclists around were forced to put on their brakes; he was eventually loaded into an ambulance before formally quitting the competition.
The legendary cyclist indicated before the race that the 2023 Tour de France would be his last. Cavendish would finish his career with 34 stage wins, tied with Belgium’s Eddy Merckx for most in the race’s history.
Mark Cavendish’s stage eight crash forced him to withdraw from the Tour de France.#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/bjNYZWUzT8
– NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 8, 2023
Cavendish has never won a major cycling race, but finished first in its points classification in 2011 and 2021. A four-time gold medalist across the sport and track world championships as well as a A silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Cavendish is widely considered one of the greatest and most accomplished cyclists in history.
