Mark Cavendish is out of the Tour de France after crashing during stage eight on Saturday.

Widely regarded as cycling’s greatest sprinter of all time, Cavendish came into this year’s Tour level on 34 stage wins with Belgian legend Eddy Merckx.

Jasper Philipsen denied Cavendish a record-breaking 35th stage win during stage seven on Friday.

Cavendish was involved in an innocuous crash 60km from the finish of Saturday’s stage and left the race in an ambulance having suffered a suspected broken collarbone.

His team, Astana Qazaqstan, confirmed he was forced to abandon after colliding with Pello Bilbao.

The Tour added: “Heartbreaking for the Manx Missile.”

It marks the seventh time from 14 appearances that Cavendish, who made his Tour debut in 2007, has not finished the race.

More to follow.