Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) crashed on stage 3 of the men's Tour Down Under, hitting the deck along with at least four other riders with ten kilometres to go on the fast downhill run to the line in Campbelltown.
Plapp managed to get back on his bike, with his kit ripped to shreds along the left-hand side, revealing extensive patches of grazed and bloody skin on his shoulder and back. His right fingers were also covered in blood.
His Jayco-AlUla team quickly put out an update on social media saying: "Not the ideal day with a very unfortunate fast crash for Australian champion Plapp in the final 10km. He managed to finish the stage but with lots of skin lost."
"Cyclists are TOUGH"
The team later said in a statement that "Plapp has been seen by the onsite medical team at the finish line. Many superficial wounds, swollen elbow and ankle. He won't travel to hospital. We will monitor him overnight and make an assessment tomorrow before the stage."
Even if Plapp can join his teammates at the start of tomorrow's stage he is now out of the GC race, coming over the line 9:53 behind race winner Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe).
He was one of Jayco-AlUla's in-form riders, with last year's runner-up Simon Yates leading the team, while Plapp and Chris Harper provided options alongside him.
Cameron Scott (Bahrain Victorious), one of the key leadout riders for Phil Bauhaus, was also involved in the crash and crossed the line more than 11 minutes down.
The distinctive blue of the Astana Qazaqstan team was prominent in the post-crash images, with the team saying three riders were involved.
The team said on social media that: "All our riders finished the stage. We will be waiting for the medical update on [Christian] Scaroni, [Samuele] Battistella and [Michele] Gazzoli."
Scaroni was the first of the trio to cross the line but still lost 6:26 on the stage, taking his GC deficit to 6:37. Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) was also involved in a crash and was a DNF.
Molard posted a photograph on Instagram from the Adelaide hospital, showing he suffered some facial injuries and other road rash. But he wrote: "Could have been worse! All good just need time."
Groupama-FDJ confirmed that Molard suffered "concussion and several wounds" but no fractures. He will remain under observation for 24 hours.
Astana Qazaqstan later revealed that Scaroni hurt his left wrist but no sign of a fracture, Battistella suffered a blow to his back, while Gazzoli has road rash and hurt his knee.
🇦🇺 #TourDownUnder | Stage 3 UPDATE - Not the ideal day with a very unfortunate fast crash for Australian champion Plapp in the final 10km. He managed to finish the stage but with lots of skin lost. Cyclist are TOUGH 🥺More to follow. pic.twitter.com/aa2owsyA6iJanuary 18, 2024
