Tour de France 2015: Zdenek Stybar wins stage six as yellow jersey holder Tony Martin crashes, marking the end of his Tour

• Race leader Tony Martin of Etixx-Quick Step was involved in a multi-rider crash towards the end of the race
• Martin was seen clutching his left shoulder after he hit the tarmac 
• He has now been ruled out of the rest of the Tour following the incident 
• Zdenek Stybar emerged from the carnage to win the stage
• Thursday's stage of the Tour de France was from Abbeville to Le Havre 
• The sixth stage of the 102nd Tour was 118.9 miles (191.5 km) long 

By Matt Lawton For Mail Online

Published: 11:08 EST, 9 July 2015 | Updated: 04:00 EST, 10 July 2015

Tony Martin limped across the line in the yellow jersey here in Le Havre, on Thursday, after a crash that marked the end of his Tour de France.

The German time trial specialist became embroiled in a physical confrontation with another rider, resulting in a number of cyclists crashing on the final climb less than a kilometre from the finish.

Martin’s Etixx-Quick Step team-mate, Zdenek Stybar, emerged from the carnage to win the 118.9 miles (191.5 km) long route from Abbeville.

Race leader Tony Martin holds his arm in a position which could indicate a broken collar bone after the crash

Martin was helped by team-mates Julien Vermote (second left) and Michal Kwiatkowski (right)

Martin managed to stand on the podium in Le Havre, raising his right arm aloft, before retiring from the Tour

As Martin has been forced to withdraw, Team Sky's British rider Chris Froome will inherit the race lead

Martin hit the ground amid a pile-up after things heated-up at the end of the stage

The time trial specialist limped across the line with the help of three team-mates

German rider Martin became embroiled in a physical confrontation with another rider

Froome (left) rides with the peloton as they are cheered on by spectators during stage six

Cofidis's Kenneth Vanbilsen (left) made a dart for it, attacking hard with just over three kilometres to go

Vanbilsen (centre) left stage six comrades Daniel Teklehaimanot (left) and  Perrig Quemeneur (right) behind

The sight of overall race leader Martin on the ground clutching his injured left shoulder was an immediate cause for concern for team bosses, that he may be unable to continue, and it has now transpired that he will not be able to.

Martin was helped across the line by three team-mates, riding his bike one-handed.

With the German forced to pull out Chris Froome is back in yellow and Mark Cavendish is now missing a key support rider for his attempt to finally win a stage on Friday.

Froome remained 12 seconds behind Martin as the top of the general classification remained unchanged - with the crash inside the final three kilometres of the stage seeing all riders awarded the same time.

Stage six of the 102nd edition of the Tour de France was 191.5 km (118.9 miles) long

The day's three-man break included Eritrean Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN Qhubeka), France's Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) and Kenneth van Bilsen (Cofidis) of Belgium.

Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) attempted to counter attack after the intermediate sprint, but soon was back in the peloton.

Teklehaimanot then claimed the point at the third and final categorised climb of the day to assume the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey from Joaquim Rodriguez, who won at the Mur de Huy on Monday.

Van Bilsen attempted to accelerate away in the closing 12km as his escape companions were swallowed up by the charging peloton.

His slender advantage was being chipped away and stood at 10 seconds with 4km to go and he was caught a kilometre later.

Martin posed for a photograph prior to the race between Abbeville and Le Havre

Etixx-Quick Step race leader Martin (right) talks with compatriot Andre Greipel of Lotto-Soudal before the start

The battle for positioning began in earnest, with John Degenkolb's Giant-Alpecin squad on the front and Martin, in the maillot jaune, behind him.

Martin's Etixx-QuickStep squad took over, with Cavendish on third wheel, but the Briton was overtaken as the sharp climb to the finish began 1.3km out.

Martin was on the left side of the road when he veered right and careered into another rider who in turn toppled Nibali. Others followed.

Stybar managed to sneak through and stole a march to win by two seconds from Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), who was second for a second successive day.

Bryan Coquard (Europcar) was third and Degenkolb fourth.

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