Luke Plapp has been forced to sit out the fourth stage of the Tour Down Under. This is because a crash on stage 3 shredded the national champion jersey for the Jayco Alura rider and left him with "a lot of skin missing."

Plapp was at the bottom of a pile of about five riders when he crashed about 10 km from the finish. He was 9:53 behind stage winner Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe), ending his hopes of winning the overall, but the team has not yet decided whether he will ride the next stage, saying, "There are a lot of superficial scratches and my elbow and ankle are swollen.

"After monitoring Plapp overnight, unfortunately he will not start today's Tour Down Under stage 4 due to discomfort and ongoing pain from his massive wounds," the team said in a statement sent to media at the race site.

The departure of Plapp, who is in good form having just won the Australian time trial title and his third consecutive national road race title, means that Jayco Alura has lost a key climbing option ahead of a crucial weekend with two summit finishes awaiting him. Fortunately, Simon Yates, who finished second in last year's race, is likely to lead the team, as is Chris Harper, who finished second to Plapp in the Australian championship time trial and road race. [Willunga Hill, in particular, put Plapp, then a WorldTour contender, in the spotlight after his impressive performance on the iconic Tour Down Under climb at the Santos Festival of Cycling in 2021, winning the second stage. It was the climb that brought Plapp, then a WorldTour hopeful, into the spotlight.

Many other riders were involved in the Gorge Road crash that took Plapp out of the race; Groupama-FDJ's Rudy Morar suffered a concussion and several scratches but no broken bones and was forced to retire. Astana-Kazakstan suffered a left wrist injury to Christian Scaroni but no signs of fracture, Samuele Battistella hit his back, and Michele Gazzoli suffered road rash and a knee injury.

Cameron Scott (Bahrain Victorious) was also involved in a crash and finished more than 11 minutes behind. His team also announced on Friday that he would not start. 'He was able to finish the race, but as a precautionary measure he will not start stage 4,' Bahrain Victorious said on social media. 'We wish him a speedy recovery and a return to racing.'

Scott is one of Phil Bauhaus' key lead-out riders and will be missed by the team as Friday's stage 4 is the sprinter's last opportunity to race. Sam Welsford and his Bora-Hansgrohe team have dominated the race so far in the pack, winning both stage 1 and stage 3. However, there is no shortage of rivals looking for a last chance on Friday, such as Jayco Aroura with Caleb Yuan.