Tour de France: Mark Cavendish pulls out of remaining five stages

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Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish won Saturday's 14th stage in Villars-les-Dombes

Great Britain's Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France with five stages left to concentrate on his preparations for the Rio Olympics.

The Manxman said continuing would have had a "detrimental effect" on his hopes for the Games, which begin on 5 August.

Cavendish, 31, won four stages at this year's Tour to increase his tally to 30 overall - second on the all-time list behind Belgian great Eddy Merckx.

The Team Dimension Data rider will compete in the omnium in Rio.

It is a multi-discipline track event consisting of six races held across two days.

Cavendish will be riding in his third Olympics, having failed to win a medal in his first two Games.

He said he took the decision to leave the Tour "with great sadness".

"To leave a race and organisation I hold so much respect for and a team I have such a special bond with, has not been an easy decision at all," he said.

"I want to say thank you to them, along with all the fans for their support and encouragement, today and over the past 16 stages."

Cavendish claimed victories at Utah Beach, Angers, Montauban and Villars-les-Dombes on this year's Tour but would not have won the green jersey.

Slovakia's Peter Sagan is more than 100 points ahead and will claim the green jersey for the fifth successive Tour if he makes it to Paris on Sunday.

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307 comments

  • Comment posted by LastManOut, at 21:27 19 Jul 2016

    Brilliant performance all round and clearly the right decision. This may be the last Olympics for MC. Go to Rio and bring home a Gold!

  • Comment posted by MTBMick, at 21:26 19 Jul 2016

    Shame he's not going to compete on the Champs Elysee but 4 tough mountain stages for 1 more chance of a win is a tough bargain.

    Hope he recovers for the olympics and gets the gold he's missing.

    Go Cav!

  • Comment posted by 0racle, at 21:52 19 Jul 2016

    @20 Senator McCarthy - "If he wasn't in it to win it why go on the tour?"

    Putting your foot in it again. Why comment on something you know absolutely nothing about?

  • Comment posted by WSV, at 21:44 19 Jul 2016

    The correct decision. Four stage wins in the bag and the green jersey out of sight.

    There is no point someone the size of Cav slogging his way through days of mountains just to get to Paris. A win on the Champs-Élysées would have been great, but in an Olympic year there are other fish to fry.

  • Comment posted by Aidan, at 21:25 19 Jul 2016

    An honourable decision and good call by Cav - he has lit up this tour more than anyone could have imagined. Looking forward to seeing him - and Steve Cummings in Rio

  • Comment posted by Rosbif, at 22:46 19 Jul 2016

    For those saying that he has let down his team, the exact opposite is true. His job is to try and win sprint stages and he has done precisely that on this tour, 4 times. His job on this tour is done so leaving to finish his preparation for the Olympics is perfectly right.

  • Comment posted by flipmode, at 21:30 19 Jul 2016

    At least he's thinking of his country rather than himself.

    Our national football team should adopt the same attitude.

    Yes, im talking to you England.

  • Comment posted by ovalball, at 21:32 19 Jul 2016

    well done Mark

    top Man

    next year get back there and take the most stage wins title

    best of luck in the Olympics

    thanks

  • Comment posted by OpenSeason, at 21:26 19 Jul 2016

    Disappointing news but probably wise if he wants to be fresh for the Olympics with only one more sprint left after four big days in the Alps... even if it is the big one in Paris.

  • Comment posted by David S, at 21:28 19 Jul 2016

    What a dreadful choice to have to make, but understandable. Wish Cav all the best for Rio.

  • Comment posted by graphica, at 08:08 20 Jul 2016

    Anyone knocking Cavendish for this does not understand procycling

    He is there for stage wins - not the jerseys

    He has won 4 stages - his team could not be happier

    The man is a king in the cycling mad parts of Europe

    As usual the GB public can't wait to criticise anyone who might have succeeded

    From all real cycling fans - well done Mark - you are a star

    Good Luck in Rio

  • Comment posted by U14187439, at 21:30 19 Jul 2016

    Fair play, he's had a great TdF, better than anyone predicted. Hope he can add an Olympic medal to his truly incredible palmares.

  • Comment posted by LiamC, at 03:38 20 Jul 2016

    Chapeau Cav, 30 TdF stages is something most cyclists only dream of. Right decision, silly doing 4 days in the alps and risk redlining or crashing on decent (Like G last year). Get to Rio safe & bring back a medal to top an amazing career

    For those commenting saying you don't care about cycling, don't read the story then & sod off to story about the England manager probably more at your level

  • Comment posted by lewlil, at 23:51 19 Jul 2016

    Lots of people who dont know what they are talking about on this thread. Dimension Data are all about sprint stages they have no chance in the gc or for any of the individual jerseys. MC has done his job and the team have supported him superbly.

    This tour has been one of the best, MC has been a major part of it.

    Fingers crossed for a UK 1st and 2nd.

  • Comment posted by OpenSeason, at 22:58 19 Jul 2016

    Plenty of comments on here showing a complete misunderstanding of cycling. It's accepted that cyclists will pull out of stage races like this and the race was much richer for having had him in it. Of course we'd rather see him compete for our own entertainment but this time it's not in his best interests and there's no disrespect.

    Good job from Cav.

  • Comment posted by jimbot61, at 21:42 19 Jul 2016

    Don't blame him for not scuppering his Olympic chances. 4 wins, his team must be more than happy too

  • Comment posted by Seejaybea, at 21:26 19 Jul 2016

    Quite understand - good luck Cav!

  • Comment posted by WSV, at 22:24 19 Jul 2016

    It seems the detractors simply don't understand the structure of the points system that determines the sprinters' green jersey.

    Cav, and the other pure sprinters, are not in the TdF to win the overall race. They primarily compete to win the individual flat stages, of which there is only one left after days of high mountains. They just hang on as best they can when there are climbs involved.

  • Comment posted by Steve, at 22:07 19 Jul 2016

    @55 He said before the tour started he was likely not to finish. The team still selected him to win as many stages as possible 1st. He did that and delivered for the team

  • Comment posted by AG, at 21:35 19 Jul 2016

    Not sure why this is a HYS topic. Anyone who understands the sport realises this is sensible both for team GB in Rio and to increase the chance of Cav adding an Olympic medal to his fabulous achievements.

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