Hard day for Orica-GreenEdge at Vattenfall Cyclassics

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It was a hard day for Orica-GreenEdge at the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg, Germany, as the Australian team had three riders go down in crashes. Stuart O'Grady and Daryl Impey both came away with fractured ribs, whilst Jens Keukeleire needed only stitches.

O'Grady and Keukeleire crashed with about 40km to go in the race. Keukeleire came away with bruises and some stitches in his thigh, but the Australian veteran was more seriously injured. He had multiple rib fractures and a broken collarbone.  He is scheduled for surgery on his collarbone on Monday.

The scariest crash occurred within sight of the finish line, and Impey was the main victim.  Serious injuries were at first feared, but head and neck scans came out clear. A fractured collarbone was then diagnosed, but that also turned out to be wrong, and in the end the final word was fractured ribs.