Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) has been forced to abandon the Tour de France, midway through the seventh stage, with a broken collarbone. The British champion was brought down, along with a large number of other riders, in a big crash with just under 40km to go. He was on his feet quite quickly but, after a long consultation with the race doctor, he sat down again on the side of the road and officially abandoned the race.
"He's got a clean break of his collarbone and that's the end of the Tour," Team Principal David Brailsford told Sky Sports News.
"He couldn't get back on his bike and it was clearly broken, so we're all gutted because we had high hopes of getting him on the podium."
Wiggins started the race this year confident of being able to match, or better, his fourth place of 2009, which equalled the best ever finish in the race by a British rider. His victory in June’s Critérium du Dauphiné showed that he was coming to the race on top form, but his crash, and injury mean that his dream is over, at least for now.
The good news is that it should heal up without complications. "It's a clean break so it should heal pretty quickly, so I'm sure he'll be looking at the World Championships in Copenhagen," Brailsford added.
"There's no reason why he can't get back into the phenomenal shape he's in now. We absolutely believe he can do that, but it's all about the current race and our other riders now."
The British team won its first Tour de France stage yesterday with Edvald Boasson Hagen yesterday, and will now be forced to focus on stage wins for the rest of the event.