Cavendish withdraws from Tour de Suisse

Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) did not start stage six of the Tour de Suisse today due to the injuries he sustained as a result of a crash at the end of Tuesday's fourth stage.

Cavendish suffered severe road rash and bruising as a result of the crash, which involved him colliding with Heinrich Haussler (Cervlo) and caused several other riders to fall. Haussler subsequently withdrew from the race.

The Manxman was handed a 200 Swiss franc (£120) fine, a time penalty and deduction of sprint classificaiton points by the Tour de Suisse race jury, after it decided that Cavendish had deviated from his line and caused the accident.

Cavendish completed Wednesday's fifth stage, but was heavily bandaged and looked to be in pain. Several riders staged a two-minute protest against Cavendish's 'dangerous riding' at the start of the stage.

Cavendish will now concentrate on recovering and building his form before his assault on the green jersey at the Tour de France in July.

Cavendish had been scheduled to withdraw from the Tour de Suisse after stage six to attend a family funeral.

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