Ben Swift is hugely disappointed to have withdrawn from the Tour de Yorkshire, but relieved to have suffered no broken bones in his crash on the opening stage.

Swift had been relishing the opportunity to compete in his home county, but was involved in a large crash in the last 70km on Friday which forced him to abandon the race. Swift was immediately transferred to Scarborough District Hospital, where X-Rays showed he had not sustained any fractures.

Team Doctor Richard Usher accompanied Swift to the hospital, and after arriving back at the hotel, was able to shed more light on his injuries.

Dr Usher said: "Ben fell and injured his right shoulder, and received some cuts to his elbow, hips and knee.

"He was in a severe amount of pain at the time and unable to continue riding. We took him for X-Rays and these preliminary tests show that there are no bone fractures. Ben will go home tonight and undergo further scans tomorrow."

Swift meanwhile, is hoping to get back on his bike as soon as possible, and hugely appreciative of the reception he received on the road.

He said: "I’m devastated that I’ve had to withdraw from the race. I fell heavily on my shoulder and knew straight away that I couldn’t continue. Thankfully nothing is broken so hopefully it won’t keep me off the bike for long.

"Congratulations to Lars Petter and the team on the great win. The Yorkshire crowd were absolutely brilliant today and really spurred us on, so a big thank you to everyone who cheered us on"

Sports Director Rod Ellingworth was quick to wish Swift a speedy recovery, and admitted crashes were an unfortunate feature of professional bike racing.

He said:  "It's cycling and we all know the highs and lows. It's sad for Ben in his home race. He's had a hell of a fall there and we could see that he knew he wasn't able to continue.

"It's shame because he was well up for the race. We'd reccy'd all these stages and he'd even noticed the descent and said it could be a bit dicey if it rains. It's just one of those things."