“I feel I was in a good position to win and to lose that and even having to leave the Tour, a race I’ve built my whole career around, is really sad.”

Dimension Data’s team doctor Adrian Rotunno said Cavendish had fractured his scapula – in the same shoulder he dislocated when he crashed in Harrogate on stage one of the 2014 race – but would not require surgery.

The announcement came at the same time Bora-hansgrohe revealed they had officially protested Sagan’s disqualification for what race commissaires deemed endangering ‘severely several other riders, including Mark Cavendish, in the final meters of the sprint’.

Sagan had initially only been relegated on the stage, and suffered time and points penalties, before he was later disqualified – a decision Dimension Data DS, and former British champion, Roger Hammond had pushed for.

“He came into me and he went into the fence. When I was told after the finish that Mark had crashed, I went straight away to find out how he was doing.

“We are friends and colleagues in the peloton and crashes like that are never nice. I hope Mark recovers soon.”

Sagan’s disqualification and Cavendish’s injury means there is now guaranteed to be a new winner of the points classification for the first time in seven years. Stage four winner Arnaud Demare currently lead the competition.

Meanwhile, British rider Ben Swift, who was also caught up in the crash as he was unable to avoid Cavendish’s bike after his fellow Brit fell, has confirmed he escaped ‘relatively unhurt’ despite catapulting over his handlebars.