Stay tuned ! This may not be the end of the story ! It sounds fishy to me !!

He was probably doping anyway. He'd rather bow out now thatn get kicked out later.

well done cav!,you have had a great tour winning 4 stages and leaving the cream of europes sprinters behind!,we know you are no quitter and to leave the TDF at this point is the correct thing to do for you,team GB and your madison partner bradley wiggins.
you have the time now to rest up before fine tuning with brad to win olympic gold for team GB in the madison which you and brad are reigning world champions!.(bet the aussies are a bit sick!)

"Jackofspeed25" riding the tour is not only about finishing and reaching paris is making the most out of the 21 stages. Have u ever ride a big tour in ur life ? I did , of course not a 21 stages tour but a 9 stages tour. Riders are riders no matter what. Its their rights to stop when they think they can't do it anymore. Thats why every team has sprinters , climbers and flat terrain riders. Every dude got to do their best. If Cav... did win 4 stages , he has done his max. The team knows what is best for him. Nice move columbia.

utter @#$%. so predictable. so what if he won 4 stages. SO WHAT? just another briton who can't cope with proper endurance cycling. It's such a yawn to hear about their sprint wins.

Maybe he should have doped and made it all the way

With all due respect, I disagree with you mountainrobbo. Beijing games are around the corner and Cav and Bradley Wiggins have to prepare for the Madison. Smart move by Cav and Columbia!

Another great British quitter unfortunately. Yes he did well to win his stages, but come on, at least try and finish the race. And lets be honest, all cyclists will be taking one thing or another to 'enhance' their performance, kididng youself if you don't think they all do

Response to ridecycling: Your comment, "In my opinion the Green (jersey) should get as much or more respect as the Yellow". Not sure how much cycling you do, but, riding in the pack for 180km and coming to the front for a 100% 20 second effort, while brave, does not compare to the pain endured by the climbers in the mountains. That is what seperates the Grand Tours from the Classics. It's the time the real hard men come to the front and they do it in the mountains. That is what the Yellow Jersey represents.
Your right to win the tour you've got to be up there in on the climbs and the TTs. Forget the flat stages. That is why the Green comes in behind the Yellow when it comes to "respect".

Respect to Cav. He is a pure sprinter and would probably not made it over the mountains, if he had he would have blown his Olympic shot. Remember the Olymoics are once every 4 years, Le Tour every year.

Cav has shown what he can do and exceeded expectations, let him take that to the Olympics as a boost to the whole team.

I am disgusted at post 36 by Annrobi. I really can't understand the negativity some people are giving Cav. Also it is not his first tdf, he was in it last year and leading in London before some tit stepped out in front of him causing him to crash.
He has won several races and will continue to do so DRUG FREE - he doesn't need the assistance with drugs as he is pure talent.

That he dropped out of the Tour has nothing to do with him being a wimp - I have always suggested that the Yellow jersey is not really always the true winner of the TdF, but really goes to the best climber as that is where the time gains are made in order to win, not winning stages. It is the Green Jersey that should garner more respect and attn than it does. If the Tour was a flat race there is no way in hell that Cadel or any number of riders can win or have won the race - it is in the mountains where those particular racers gain the necessary time and for the most part where the drama of the race lies. I do believe the drug allegations with Armstrong will cloud him forever, however time will tell. Ironically for him, cancer changed his entire body - he lost all of his upper body mass that he had built up over time from swimming and afterward only then did he focused on cycling singularly and was a much lighter than ever before - this allowed him to become the climber he needed to be to win. At any rate, maybe Cavendish can focus on being a Green Jersey winner at some point, because in my opinion the Green should get as much or more respect as the Yellow.

Reply to number 26. It's nice to know that Stanley Unwin is alive and well!!

Interesting comment from Chad again, as already pointed out McEwen missed a stage time limit last year, and I seem to remember the 'great' Tom Boonen quitting the tour in the mountains whilst in the world champions jersey. Cavendish is 23, he's a pure sprinter/track rider...not a classics man, has the olympics in 4 weeks time and has already ridden the giro this year. The writing was on the wall when he was interviewed after his 4th stage win (thats right 4th) he looked shot, what is the point in delaying the inevitable. Good luck to him I say, he's done the job his team wanted him to do, even exceeding their expectations, quit now and give McEwen or Hushovd a chance of a stage win in Paris because to be honest he's made them look ordinary in every bunch sprint up till now.

It's rare, and refreshing, to see a British sports person have such confidence ("balls", if you like..) in themselves as Cav; and have the talent to back it up.

I have thoroughly enjoyed his displays of excellence and it's been great to see his own joy at winning stages in an event that he obviously loves. He seems to have a great relationship with his his team, who are putting in a pretty damn impressive performance themselves; even his competitors and peers respect this emerging super talent; I am sure that the other sprinters in the pack can not help (at least grudgingly), admire or even enjoy seeing a new young rider win so spectacularly.

The Tour is both ONE 3- week, and 21 one-day races, and this is part of what makes it such a great event , with the daily diversity's of those trying to win one heroic stage, maintain a jersey, work for a team mate, or riding strategically with the ultimate grand goal of yellow in Paris. Cav is a professional young sportsman who this year has the added responsibility of riding for his country in one of the worlds other great sporting events, the Olympics,. His Olympic team mates are already there and training for a race thats just a month away.

Maybe Cav should have stuck out, but he's got a bloody good excuse to leave now. He has proved himself ,and I look forward to seeing how he develops in the future. I have a feeling that he is going to be a legendary competitor for years to come. Go Cav go!

Some comments

1 Riders have always dropped out of the tour for one reason or another so cav is no different

2 He is still young and developing, it appears to me the Bob Stapleton is looking long term and this year is part of an ongoing plan for his development as a rider. A good policy in my opinion and something that happens with many athletes in many sports.

3 The olympics is very important for him and GB. He has an excellent chance of a Gold Medal something that only comes round every 4 years it would be ludicrous for him to ruin that chance just to do a few more stages in the T de F when he has little or no chance of winning a jersey.

Cavandish strikes me as a very confident young man ( too confident for some I'm sure ) but he has backed that up by his performances and also acknowledged the efforts of his team mates, lets praise his talent and achievements, back him in the Olympics and look forward to a concerted effort from him to win Green in the future. He is built to sprint not climb at the moment so let him be all you who are knocking him.

As a fan of bicycle racing, I must admit that I lose some interest in races like the Giro and Tour de France when riders drop out for other than injury or disciplinary reasons. The fact that Cavendish dropped out in order to train for another race means to me that he should not have committed to the Tour de France in the first place--the Tour is one of the crown jewels of cycling, not a training vehicle for the Olympics or any other contest. If you are a contestant, you must be a contestant to the end, otherwise it diminishes the value of the contest itself. -- Mike

Johnny P you are obviously a @#$%!

Typical no balls Brit

The beauty of the tour is that it is a mix of all sorts of plots and aims. Winning stages, sprints the overall etc are all fascinating parts. Cippo was a legend just as Cav is going to be. Lance is a legend. They bring huge amounts of pleasure in their different ways. Good on them I say.
As for the political gibes about China. Yep they've got a dodgy human rights record. Which country hasn't. Esp UK. Pollution in Beijing, I've been to Beijing yup, well smoggy. But they're trying to sort it. Let's leave the politics out and focus on the cycling..