Monday 7 July 2014 20:08, UK
Mark Cavendish will undergo surgery on his dislocated collarbone on Wednesday and is set to be out of action for around six weeks.
The 29-year-old Briton ruptured the ligament linking his right shoulder and collarbone in a crash at the end of stage one of the Tour de France in Harrogate on Saturday.
He was forced to withdraw from the race on Sunday morning and will also now miss the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which start later this month.
A statement from his Omega Pharma – Quick-Step team said: “Mark Cavendish underwent further examinations after his crash during the first stage of the Tour de France last Saturday.
"The results underlined the need for surgery after it was confirmed that all ligaments around the AC-joint were ruptured and the shoulder separated. The surgery to stabilize the AC joint will take place on Wednesday 9th of July. The recovery time after the surgery will be around six weeks.”
The crash happened when Cavendish leaned into Simon Gerrans in a bid to force an opening with around 250m of the stage remaining.
A clash of wheels brought both riders down and Cavendish remained on the ground in agony for several minutes.
In the statement, he said: "It's worse than I was hoping, but immediately after the crash I knew something was really wrong.
“"It is really painful, but at the moment all I can do is focus 100 per cent of my effort on my recovery to be able to get back racing for Omega Pharma - Quick-Step as quickly as possible."
