WATCH: Mark Cavendish's horrific crash at TDF

Cape Town - The end of the fourth stage at this year's Tour de France was marred by a horrific crash which brought down Team Dimension Data's sprint king, Mark Cavendish. 

Cavendish, who was fighting for a stage win in a sprint finish, seemed to be pushed into the barriers by world champion, Peter Sagan, the winner of the third stage on Monday. 

He went down in a heap with two further riders riding over the top of him.

Cavendish completed the stage but was taken to hospital.

Early reports suggest that he has a fracture and that his tour is over. Sagan was seen to approach the Dimension Data team bus, possibly to offer an apology. 

The stage was won by France's Arnaud Demare.

Watch the horrific crash below

What a crash in #TDF2017 stage 4. Cavendish gets an elbow from worldchamp Sagan. No injuries for Cav so far. pic.twitter.com/YXqqbrkEaJ

— NieuwsBlog (@nieuwsblog) July 4, 2017