Mark Cavendish is out of Tirreno-Adriatico 2018 after his heavy crash in the team time trial, in which he fractured a rib and finished outside of the time cut.
Cavendish went down hard at ‘around 55km/h’ and finished the stage on a road bike, with bad cuts on his face and injuries to his knees, hips, hands and ribs.
Despite his injuries, the Manxman – who also had to abandon his last race, the Abu Dhabi Tour, after crashing on the opening stage – had hoped to race the flat stage two.
But after finishing the opening stage outside the time limit, he has had to quit – throwing his preparations for Milan-San Remo into more disarray.
