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Simon Clarke’s crash put a dampener on another great day for Orica-GreenEDGE in the Herald Sun Tour.
Young gun Caleb Ewan won his second stage in as many days on Saturday, giving the top Australian team their third win in a row in the Jayco Tour.
Teammate Cameron Meyer also stayed out of trouble to retain his four-second lead ahead of Sunday’s Queen stage at Arthurs Seat.
But Clarke, the defending race champion, was hurt in a pile-up involving a dozen riders midway through the 146.7km stage from Mitchelton Winery to Nagambie.
It remains to be seen how big a factor he will be in Sunday’s last stage, given his injuries.
Clarke, who is fourth overall, normally would be a key ally for Meyer in the three climbs and the summit finish at Arthurs Seat.
“He’s pretty banged up with a lot of skin off,” Meyer said.
“He’s definitely an important factor to our race and tactics tomorrow.
“I think Simon Clarke with no skin on, I still wouldn’t be letting him go up the road.
“Okay, they might put more emphasis on me but we’ll still have Simon Clarke.”
There are 21 riders within 35 seconds of the lead, meaning plenty of fireworks in Sunday’s stage.
Rising star Robert Power (Jayco Australian Under23s) also crashed near the finish on Saturday and was taken to hospital for x-rays on an elbow.
Power is an outstanding young climber and he is another rider who usually would feature prominently at Arthurs Seat.
“Hopefully (the elbow) is all good,” said Power, who finished in the peloton despite the crash.
“It’s going to be an awesome race tomorrow and I’d love to be there.”
But there were no problems for Ewan, who beat American sprint ace Tyler Farrar (MTN-Qhubeka) by a bike length.
“Same finish line and same result, I am really happy with both of them,” Ewan said of his two wins in as many days at Nagambie.
“It played out a little differently – it was pretty hectic in the final with the big wide road.”
Drapac rider Brenton Jones, who crashed at the end of Friday’s stage, did not start on Saturday.
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