Australia's Richie Porte has pulled out of the Tour de France after breaking his collarbone in a crash 10 kilometres into the ninth stage, a slog over the cobbles of northern France which was won by Germany's John Degenkolb.

Porte hit the ground before the race reached the first of the cobblestone sections on a 156.5-km ride from Arras to Roubaix.

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"Richie has been discharged by the hospital and the diagnosis is that he has a non-displaced right clavicle fracture," Porte's BMC Racing Team chief medical officer Dr Max Testa said.

"He will need to rest for a week before he considers starting to ride on the home trainer.

"From what we know at this point, it looks like a straightforward injury and one that is quite common in cycling.

"We are expecting him to be back on the bike training in probably three to four weeks and potentially racing in six to eight weeks."

For the 33-year-old Tasmanian, it was a double blow, coming on the heels of last year's early exit from the race — also during stage nine.

"Obviously I'm devastated," Porte said.

"For the second year in a row I am ending the Tour de France like this.

"I was on the ground before I knew it and straight away felt pain in my right shoulder.

"I want to say a big thank you to my teammates for their incredible work over the first nine days.

"We had a great first week and I'm so disappointed that I won't be continuing to Paris."

Porte was sitting 10th in this year's race, 57 seconds behind yellow jersey holder Greg van Avermaet of Belgium.

The Tasmanian was one of the main contenders to finish on the podium in Paris.

He finished fifth overall in 2016.

Porte wasn't the only general classification contender in trouble during the tough cobblestone stage.

Every cyclist who reached the finish was covered in dust, many with their jerseys torn to shreds from crashes.

Last year's winner and favourite for the yellow jersey Chris Froome managed to get through the stage unscathed, despite a fall on one of the cobblestone sections.

Team Sky rider Chris Froome of Britain crashes on stage nine of the Tour de France. ( REUTERS: Benoit Tessier )

Trek–Segafredo rider Degenkolb won a three-man sprint to take victory in a memorable stage

There was some good news for BMC Racing, with yellow jersey Greg Van Avermaet crossing the line in second place to increase his overall lead to 43 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas, a teammate of Froome's at Sky. Yves Lampaert of Quick-Step finished third.

None of the three are expected to be on the podium when the tour finally finishes in Paris.

Reuters/ABC