Two-time champion Alberto Contador has pulled out of the Tour de France after a heavy crash on stage 10.
The Spaniard tried to continue after crashing on a descent before the Col de Platerwasel before quitting. It was later revealed he had fractured a leg.
The stage was won by Astana's Vincenzo Nibali, who retook the yellow jersey.
Contador, who rides for the Tinkoff-Saxo team, is the third former champion to withdraw following 2013 winner Chris Froome and 2010's Andy Schleck.
Tinkoff-Saxo sports director Philippe Mauduit said Contador "crashed badly".
"Before pulling out, he told us he was in awful pain and he couldn't go any further on his bike," he said.
"Everything had gone well since the beginning of the Tour. In a fraction of a second, it all fell apart, so we're immensely sad."
Team manager Bjarne Riis said that Contador would probably need surgery on his fractured tibia bone.
"Alberto crashed on a fast and straight part of the descent. He was reaching for his pocket and the bike was swept away under him probably because of a bump or hole in the road," he added.
Contador, who won the race in 2007 and 2009, attempted to keep his 2014 campaign alive after his fall, riding on after getting treatment on a badly cut right knee and replacing his damaged shoes.
But with four minutes to make up on the peloton and in severe pain, Contador soon thanked team-mate Michael Rogers for his support, pulled to the side of the road and was helped into a team car.
His withdrawal further enhances Nibali's prospects of a first Tour victory after the Italian reasserted his authority over the field with a superb attack on the final climb.
Nibali, who had lost the overall lead to Lotto-Belisol's Tony Gallopin on stage nine, came home 15 seconds clear of FDJ's Thibaut Pinot to ensure a swift return to the yellow jersey.
Team Sky's Richie Porte, who crossed in seventh, and Movistar's Alejandro Valverde, who finished third, are now his nearest rivals, but both are more than two minutes adrift.
The post-race discussion was focused instead on the retirement of the man who seemed best suited to duelling with Nibali over the high mountain stages to come.
"He was behind me but then passed me and three seconds later he fell off in front of me," said Nibali.
"It was spectacular, we were around 60kmh (37mph)."
Porte described Contador's abandonment as "a shame", while Froome wrote on Twitter that it was "a big loss" for the Tour.
Contador, who was stripped of the 2010 Tour title for doping, is one of only five riders to have won all three of cycling's Grand Tours - the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta d'Espana.
The Vuelta d'Espana now represents this season's only remaining chance of a Grand Tour victory for former Tour de France champions Froome, Contador and Bradley Wiggins.
Their absence, along with the withdrawal of Schleck, means that this year's Tour is guaranteed to have a first-time winner.
Stage 10 result:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) 4hrs 27mins 26secs
2. Thibaut Pinot (Fra/FDJ) +15secs
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +20secs
4. Jean Christophe Peraud (Fra/AG2R) same time
5. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +22secs
6. Tejay Van Garderen (US/BMC) same time
7. Richie Porte (Aus/Team Sky) +25secs
8. Leopold Konig (Czh/Netapp-Endura) +50secs
9. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) +52secs
10. Mikel Nieve (Spa/team Sky) +54secs
Selected:
19. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) +1min 23secs.
24. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Omega Pharma-Quick Step) +2mins 13 secs
33. Tony Gallopin (Fra/Lotto-Belisol) +4mins 46secs
177. Simon Yates (GB/Orica GreenEdge) +32mins 39secs
General Classification after stage 10:
1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) 42hrs 33mins 38secs
2. Richie Porte (Aus/Team Sky) +2mins 23secs
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +2mins 47secs
4. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +3mins 01secs
5. Tony Gallopin (Fra/Lotto-Belisol) +3mins 12secs
6. Thibaut Pinot (Fra/FDJ) +3mins 47secs
7. Tejay van Garderen (US/BMC) +3mins 56secs
8. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra/AG2R) +3mins 57secs
9. Rui Costa (Por/Lampre) +3mins 58secs
10. Bauke Mollema (Ned/Belkin) +4mins 8secs
Selected:
13. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Omega Pharma-Quick Step) +4mins 39secs
14. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) +5mins 17mins
113. Simon Yates (GB/Orica GreenEdge) +1hr 20mins 6secs
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