Cavendish out of Tour de Suisse

HTC-Columbia's sprinter Mark Cavendish was not at at the start of the sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse, Thursday. The team said that he was still in too much pain from injuries resulting from his crash in the fourth stage.

Cavendish was involved in a crash in the finale of that stage when he ran into Cervelo's Heinrich Haussler. The HTC-Columbia rider is said to have spat on Haussler after the crash, which led to a protest against him at the start of Wednesday's stage.

The Manx rider suffered extensive scraping and bruising, especially to his back. He finished 11 minutes down in the fifth stage.

Cyclingnews has learned that Cavendish, while not racing, is taking advantage of the opportunity to do some climbing. He is said to be riding some of the route today, followed by a team car.