Simon Gerrans pulls out of Tour de France

Australian champion Simon Gerrans has pulled out of the Tour de France after failing to recover from injuries he suffered in a crash on the opening day.

The 34-year-old's withdrawal leaves his Orica-GreenEdge team with just six riders remaining after losing Mat Hayman on stage 10 and sending Simon Yates home yesterday.

"Obviously it's disappointing not to complete the Tour de France and make it to Paris," Gerrans told reporters.

"But with the injuries I have from stage one I think the best decision is actually to stop now and completely recover. I know I haven't been 100% right since my crash but I was hoping to improve throughout the race. That hasn't really been the case."

This year's Tour comes to a close on Sunday.