Tour de France 2014: Mark Cavendish is out after crash

Mark Cavendish is out of the Tour de France after he dislocated his shoulder and suffered ligament damage in a crash near the end of stage one in Yorkshire.

The Briton, 29, collided with Simon Gerrans during the sprint in Harrogate, which was won by Marcel Kittel.

"I'm absolutely devastated," said Cavendish. "I had some optimism that the swelling would go down overnight, but it's worse this morning."

Cavendish added that he may need surgery.

His withdrawal means just three Britons remain in the race. Defending champion Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas are in the Team Sky line-up, while Simon Yates is riding for Orica-GreenEdge.

Cavendish spent several minutes on the floor following the crash before being helped back on to his bike and riding to the finish line, watched by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

He said he realised immediately his injuries were serious.

"I knew straight away because normally in crashes I bounce back straight away," added the Manxman.

"This was the first time in my career that I knew something was up, but I wanted to finish. I was able to do that, but I was in pain."

Cavendish admitted he was to blame for the crash.

"I spoke to Gerrans at the finish and then I called him at his hotel last night, too," he added on Sunday morning. "I hope that Simon is OK and today is a stage for him. He's a good guy and I'm sorry."

The Omega Pharma - Quick-Step star, joint third on the list of most Tour stage wins with 25, had been among the favourites to win the first stage, which would have given him the leader's yellow jersey for the first time.

Sunday's second stage runs 201km from York to Sheffield and features around 3,000m of climbing, spread across nine categorised ascents.