Mark Cavendish's Tour de France is in the balance after the dramatic crash which ended the Manxman's dreams of wearing the yellow jersey in his mother's home town of Harrogate.
Cavendish separated the AC joint between his right shoulder and collarbone when he tumbled to the tarmac after colliding with Orica GreenEdge rival Simon Gerrans a little over 200 metres from the line.
The 29-year-old had an MRI scan on the injury on Saturday night and planned to make a decision on Sunday morning as to whether to continue in the Tour with his Omega Pharma-QuickStep team.
“I’m gutted about the crash today,” Cavendish said. “It was my fault. I’ll personally apologise to Simon Gerrans as soon as I get the chance. In reality, I tried to find a gap that wasn’t really there.
“I wanted to win today, I felt really strong and was in a great position to contest the sprint thanks to the unbelievable efforts of my team. Sorry to all the fans that came out to support – it was truly incredible.”
After Cavendish tumbled to the tarmac, Marcel Kittel raced away to win the opening stage of the Tour for a second year running.
Cavendish, who had been bidding for his 26th Tour de France stage win, had ridden gingerly back to the team bus holding his side before being taken away in an ambulance with his wife Peta Todd and two-year-old daughter Delilah following in a team car.
For Cavendish, it was sad repeat of last year’s opening stage when Kittel beat a depleted field after Cavendish and others had been caught in a crash on the run into Bastia.
Saturday’s incident was even more devastating, coming as it did on such familiar roads, a factor Omega Pharma-QuickStep team manager Lefevere fears may even have contributed to the fall.
“He was very impatient,” he said. “He wanted to win. He has already done this sprint 100 times in his head before.
“It’s his home tour. He was very focused. Maybe too much. He was so sure to win that he probably made a mistake.
“Gerrans came next to him, slowed down, he wanted to get out, and (Mark) pushed him with his shoulder. Gerrans pushed back and, boom, they crashed.”
A victory for Cavendish would have completed a dream day for British cycling fans, with Yorkshire laying on one of the more spectacular Grand Departs of recent years.
More than a million fans had turned out to line the route of the 190.5km stage, which began with a long preamble from Leeds to Harewood House before continuing through the Yorkshire Dales and over the Buttertubs climb into Harrogate.
“It’s an unfortunate way to end what could’ve been a dream scenario,” said Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford, Cavendish’s former boss.
“He’s a great champion. He’s done an awful lot for his country and we shouldn’t forget that.”
Defending champion Chris Froome of Britain was sixth on the opening stage, while Ireland's Nicolas Roche was placed in 46th position in the bunch finish
Sunday’s second stage is a treacherous 201-km trek from York to Sheffield.
