Cavendish shares the record of 34 stage victories with Belgium's Eddy Merckx, and came close to a historic win in Bordeaux yesterday but was denied by Jasper Philipsen.

He plans to retire after a final season with Astana Qazaqstan Team, but the sprinter's legendary career on the Tour de France dating back to 2007 came to an end when he hit the tarmac hard with around 61 kilometres remaining of the 200.7km stage from Libourne to Limoges.

The crash at the back of the peloton came in the more challenging hilly final third of the eighth stage after a flat start, and appeared to be caused by a clash of wheels.

Cavendish was seen holding his collarbone before receiving medical attention and being taken away in an ambulance.

Astana Qazaqstan Team then confirmed Cavendish had been forced to abandoned this year's Tour.

Tributes were paid to the 38-year-old afterwards.

Stage winner Pedersen of Lidl-Trek said, "It was a pleasure to be able to ride with Mark Cavendish" and "so sad for a legend to finish the Tour like this", while Alpecin-Deceuninck's Belgian rider Philipsen, who was denied his fourth win on this year's Tour in second, said "he [Cavendish] sure inspired me, as he is the best sprinter of all time".

Race director Christian Prudhomme told British broadcaster ITV "Mark deserves the respect of the Tour, he will always be welcome with or without his bike".

France's Anthony Turgis for Team TotalEnergies was last to be caught with around 8km remaining from the three-rider breakaway with compatriot Anthony Delaplace of Arkéa-Samsic and Belgium's Tim Declercq of Soudal Quick-Step.

Former world champion Pedersen earned his second Tour win following victory on the 13th stage in Saint-Étienne last year, setting off early in the final uphill sprint and holding off a challenge from Philipsen to triumph in 4 hours 12min 26sec.

Belgium's Wout van Aert, last year's points classification and a nine-time stage winner on the Tour de France, had to settle for third.

Van Aert's wait for a first win on this year's Tour went on after he found himself boxed in by Jumbo-Visma team-mate Christophe Laporte of France, who had led him out in the sprint.

There was no change in the top three of the general classification as defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark and Jumbo-Visma and Slovenia's two-time winner Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates both finished safely in the bunch sprint, as did Australia's Jai Hindley racing for Bora-Hansgrohe.

Vingegaard maintains a 25sec lead over Pogačar and 1min 34sec advantage over Hindley.

British rider Simon Yates of Team Jayco-AlUla slipped from fourth to sixth after a late crash led to him finishing 47sec off the pace, and he now trails Vingegaard by 4:01.

Vingegaard predicted tomorrow's mountainous 182.5km ninth stage from Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dôme could be "decisive".

The lava dome is being used on the Tour for the first time in 35 years to conclude the stage.

The final climb totals 13.3km at an average gradient of 7.7 per cent, but this rises to an average of around 11 per cent for the final 5km.