UPDATED: Video: Mark Cavendish abandons Abu Dhabi Tour after suffering concussion in neutral zone crash

Mark Cavendish has abandoned the Abu Dhabi Tour after a crash in the neutral zone at the start of today’s opening stage of the race, with his Dimension Data team saying he sustained a concussion and a whiplash injury in the incident.

-135 kms
Los escapados cuentan ahora con 3:20 sobre el pelotón.

Así ha sido la caída de @MarkCavendish | https://t.co/rAPBYPPFfj #RideToAbuDhabi (TV) pic.twitter.com/h4DfyptIjC

— Ciclo 21 (@ciclo21) February 21, 2018

In a tweet following his abandonment, the 32-year-old sprinter’s team said he had fallen on the same shoulder he broke last year in a crash at the Tour de France.

The team added that an update on Cavendish’s medical condition would follow.

#RideToAbuDhabi@MarkCavendish went down in the neutral zone, falling on the same shoulder he broke last year. He got up and chased back to the peloton but had to abondon soon after. More info to come after medical check.

— Team Dimension Data (@TeamDiData) February 21, 2018

In a subsequent update, team doctor Adrian Rotunno said: "Mark sustained a concussion and a whiplash injury after his crash today.

"Due to the concussion, we were not willing to risk rider safety and the call was made for Mark to stop the race.

"A serious neck injury has been excluded in hospital. He currently has some concussive symptoms and neck pain, but is otherwise stable.

"We will monitor Mark’s condition closely going forward.” 

The crash happened after the driver of the race director’s car appeared to slow down suddenly, causing the riders behind to brake.

Cavendish got back on his bike, but was forced to abandon around 5 kilometres into the stage.

After a 2017 season disrupted by glandular fever followed by that broken shoulder, Cavendish took his first victory in almost a year at the Dubai Tour earlier this month.

> Video: Mark Cavendish takes first win in almost a year at Dubai Tour

His racing programme currently includes Milan-San Remo and Dwars Door Vlaanderen next month, as well as the Scheldeprijs and Paris-Roubaix in April.