Mark Cavendish has withdrawn from the Tour de France, his team has confirmed.

The 23-year-old Team Columbia rider, who has won four sprint stages in this year's Tour - a new record for a British rider, is suffering from fatigue and has pulled out of the event in order to turn his attention to winning Olympic gold in Beijing.

Cavendish has become one of the stars of this year's event after winning stages five, eight, 12 and 13 but he has struggled to keep with the pace in the Alps.

After Friday's stage victory, Bob Stapleton, the Team Columbia manager, admitted Cavendish would "seriously consider" pulling out before today's Alpine opener.

"He is clearly very tired," he said. "I think we have to seriously consider him stepping out. That's something we need to give full consideration to.

"It's important for us that he is part of that decision so we'll talk with him when he feels better."

Cavendish will now have plenty of time to recover ahead of his participation in the Madison event at the Beijing Games

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