Fabian Cancellara may have ridden his last ever stage of the Tour de France after suffering a near repeat of the injury that ruled him out of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix earlier this year.

Back in March, the Trek Factory Racing rider sustained fractures to the left side of his L2 and L3 vertebrae in a crash during the E3 Harelbeke, bringing his Classics campaign to a premature end.

Yesterday’s pile-up during Stage 3 of the Tour de France from Antwerp to Mur de Huy resulted in Cancellara, in the yellow jersey of race leader, fracturing the right side of his L3 and L4 vertebrae.

Cancellara completed the stage albeit in obvious discomfort, and during the 20 minutes or so that it was neutralised following the crash it did appear at times that he might abandon.

Both crashes happened on Belgian roads and according to the Trek Factory Racing website again it was a CT scan that confirmed the worst for both the rider, who had already said this might be his final participation in the race, and his team.

He said: “This is incredibly disappointing for me. The team was on a high with the yellow jersey and were very motivated to defend it.

“We have had a lot of crashes and injuries since the start of the season, and we finally had a great 24 hours but now it’s back to bad luck. One day you win, one day you lose.”  

He added:“It was very hard to come back in shape after my crash in Harelbeke and getting the confidence.

“The yellow jersey gave me a huge boost for the cobblestone stage tomorrow. I guess I have to keep the positive and look forward to the second part of the season.”