Abu Dhabi: Dimension Data team suffered a huge setback on the opening stage of the Abu Dhabi Tour with their ace sprinter Mark Cavendish pulling out following a crash.
It is understood the Manxman fell along with other riders after they were forced to hit the brakes when the race director’s car suddenly slowed down in front of the peloton.
The incident happened at the neutral zone, shortly after setting off from Madinat Zayed just before the official start of stage one.
The 32-year-old, who won stage one last year, managed to get back on his bike but was forced to pull out after riding for a few kilometres.
The team Dimension Data, in a tweet, revealed that Cavendish apparently fell on the same shoulder that he fractured in the crash during the 2017 Tour de France on stage 4.
“@MarkCavendish went down in the neutral zone, falling on the same shoulder he broke last year. He got up and chased back to the peloton but had to abandon soon after. More info to come after medical check.”
Clearly a huge blow for Cavendish, who is also the brand ambassador for the Abu Dhabi Tour. This was Cavendish’s third race of the 2018 season and he had started on a high with a stage win at the Dubai Tour earlier this month and had raced at the Tour of Oman last week.
Team doctor Adrian Rotunno later revealed that Cavendish was showing potential signs of a concussion and neck pain.
