The 32-year-old got back onto his bicycle and completed the stage on Wednesday but was later treated by team medic Jarrad van Zuydam.

“He came down pretty hard at around 55km/h and he sustained multiple abrasions and soft tissue injuries to his knees, hips, hands and some swelling on his face as well,” van Zuydam said in a Team Dimension Data statement.

“But he had a lot of rib pain which we went to x-ray, and found that he has a fracture of the seventh rib on the right side. The fracture’s nice and stable and should heal well.”

Cavendish, who has won 30 individual stages of the Tour de France and has been selected by the Isle of Man to lead its road cycling team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in April, finished outside the time limit and is out of Tirreno-Adriatico.

He withdrew from the Tour of Abu Dhabi last month having sustained concussion and whiplash.

“It’s frustrating to have crashed, particularly in light of the concussion that I sustained in Abu Dhabi, but I’m just pleased that there’s no major damage done,” Cavendish said.

“Despite the pain from my injury, I was really looking forward to a fast second stage and naturally disappointed that I’m not going to be a part of it.”