The 38-year-old was taken into an ambulance for checks before his withdrawal was made official by race organisers. It appeared that the fall resulted in a broken collarbone for Cavendish.
The Astana-Qazaqstan rider had earlier announced that he was racing his final Tour de France.
On the world’s greatest cycling race, Cavendish was aiming to beat the record he shares with Belgian great Eddy Merckx, who bagged 34 victories from 1969-75.
Cavendish was ashen-faced as doctors closed the ambulance door on his bid to set the new record which escaped him by a whisker on stage seven at Bordeaux on Friday.
Headed for victory on the banks of the Garonne river a chain slip saw Jasper Philipsen beat him to the line and deprive him of a landmark stage win.
Cavendish burst on to the Tour de France map in 2008 with his first four wins when he was just 23-years-old.
His iconic celebrations were drenched in bravado and made such good television he attracted a new generation of fans to the sport.
A student of the fine art of the sprint lead out and a bullish competitor the Isle of man native matched Merckx on 34 wins in 2021.
He missed the cut in 2022 but changed teams for 2023 where he appeared capable of clinching the all important stage for which he strived so hard.
(With inputs from AFP)
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