Slovenian cycling star Primož Roglič is out of the Tour de France after suffering a nasty crash during stage 12 from Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe racer crashed some 12 kilometres before the finish line, falling on his right shoulder, which appeared to be heavily scratched and bloody.

Although the 34-year-old climbed back on the bike and crossed the finish line of the 163.5-km stage with the help of his team-mates, he lost 2 minutes and 27 seconds in the general classification and dropped to the sixth place overall.

Before his exit, Roglič was four minutes and 42 seconds behind the overall leader, his compatriot Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who has an advantage of one minute and six seconds ahead of Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step).

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe said on 12 July that "Roglič underwent careful examination by our medical team after yesterday's stage and again this morning. The decision has been taken that he will not start today, to focus on upcoming goals."

The crash was not Roglič's fault, as it happened on a poorly marked section of the road, after Kazakh rider Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) fell across a concrete lane delineator and slid to the other side of the road.

A group of riders, including Roglič, could not avoid Lutsenko, and suffered a mass crash, which was not the first for the Slovenian at this year's Tour de France. He also crashed during Wednesday's mountain stage from Evaux-les-Bains to Le Lioran.

Roglič's withdrawal means that he has not completed any of his last three Tour starts and has finished just three of his last seven Grand Tours.