Publications
Partners
London - Mark Cavendish was forced to quit the Tour of Britain after a crash, while Etixx-QuickStep team-mate Matteo Trentin won the sixth stage on Friday.
Cavendish, who had just been named in the Great Britain team for the Road Cycling World Championships later this month, is believed to have hit a parked car around 20km into the stage.
The full extent of any injuries was still to be revealed by his team, but reports claimed he needed hospital treatment for a suspected shoulder problem.
The Road World Championships start in eight days, leaving Cavendish facing a race to be fit in time for the event in the United States.
Meanwhile, Trentin fought off a strong challenge from MTN-Qhubeka's Edvald Boasson Hagen as the duo battled for the stage win throughout the 192.7km route from Stoke to Nottingham.
Norwegian Boasson Hagen, the 2009 Tour of Britain winner, earned enough bonus seconds to enhance his overall lead to 13 seconds ahead of the concluding weekend of racing.
Saturday's 227.1km seventh stage from Fakenham to Ipswich likely is the final opportunity for Boasson Hagen's rivals, Team Sky's Wout Poels chief among them, to dethrone him as Sunday's central London finale is expected to end in a sprint.
