It marked a nightmarish end to what could have been Farrar’s dream Tour. After wins in the spring classics and Giro d’Italia stages, Farrar was primed to give HTC’s Mark Cavendish a run and perhaps grab a stage or two in this year’s tough Tour.

Instead, Tyler has been riding with a fractured bone in his wrist since the second stage, defying pain as well as medical reality. But as his team manager put it to Versus TV today, “The guy is in a world of pain.” Today’s climbs, after yesterday’s drama, were too much for the courageous sprinter.

Farrar was challenging for the win in Stage 11 yesterday when HTC racer Mark Renshaw swerved in front of him, a clear violation of racing rules. Renshaw was later tossed out of the entire Tour, and an angry Farrar said the move might have caused a crash had he not backed off.