Team Sky’s most prolific rider Mark Cavendish crashed out of the Giro d’Italia in the third stage with brutal consequences as the third stage of the Grand Tour was won by Matthew Goss. Cavendish as well as his mate on the circuit, American rider Taylor Phinney of Team BMC, the winner of the first stage of the famous race both crashed out with just 100 meters of the stage left to go and the finishing line in sight but Orica Green Edge rider Goss stayed clear of the crash to claim his first victory of the season.

In spite of crashing out unceremoniously in the stage, Taylor Phinney still managed to retain the Pink Jersey of the overall leader and later, Cavendish tweeted that it is never nice to be crashing while going at 75 kilometers an hour but what he felt bad about was that he took out the holders of the Pink Jersey, Red Jersey as well as the World Champion Jersey as well.

The third stage that took place between Horsens and Horsens, a 190 kilometer stretch was dedicated to the memory of Walter Weylandt who dies after crashing in the same stage last year as well as the Mayor of Horsens who dies the night before the third stage. It was extremely ironical that a cyclist of the caliber of Mark Cavendish would crash during this stage as well, bringing back the horrors that were experienced at this stage last year when Weylandt crashed in a similar manner.

Cavendish also tweeted about the death of Weylandt in the 2011 edition and speaking to the media before entering an ambulance, Mark Cavendish stated that he wasn’t feeling that bad and hopefully he would be back to race in the next stage of the Giro d’Italia, one of the most prestigious races in the cycling calendar.