It means Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) now leads the points classification, having won the intermediate sprint on stage 17 to initially cut the gap to nine points to Kittel.

However, with Kittel out, Matthews – who won stage 14 and stage 16 – now boasts a 160-point lead over Andre Greipel in the points classification.

It also opens up the final two anticipated sprint stages, with Kittel having dominated the flat stages in the first two weeks of this year’s Tour.

Kittel leaving the race also means Cavendish remains the only rider to have won more than five individual stages of a single Tour de France in the 21st century (six in 2009).

Kittel was the second rider to abandon on stage 17, with Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) calling it quits earlier in the day. Pinot’s abandonment means FDJ have just three riders left in the race, with three further team-mates missing the cut with Demare on stage nine and Arthur Vichot quitting on stage 13.

Kittel is the 27^th rider in total to leave this year’s race, which, along with the aforementioned sprinters, has claimed several other high-profile victims, including Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Richie Porte (BMC Racing), Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe), Philippe Gilbert (QuickStep Floors) and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana).