No chance for Orica GreenEDGE Cycling Team. Simon Gerrans, who will target the victory at the next Tour Down Under, fell in training and broke his collarbone this Sunday. Aged 34 years old, the Australian rider will therefore now focus on the rest of the season including spring classics. According to VeloNews, the sports director Matt White said that Gerrans was in the “best form of his career” and “highly disappointed” with the injury.

“We have not made a final decision at the moment,” said White. “It’s a challenge for us to fill the gap left behind and see what we can come up with in January. My gut feeling at the moment would be we would be leaning toward backing Daryl Impey for the Tour Down Under.”

For the national championship, Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) and Richie Porte (Team Sky) will be the favorites. “For the national championships it totally changes the bike race for everyone including Richie Porte and Cadel Evans,” said White. “To simplify the nationals there are two ways to win it and that’s either in the early break or in the final lap. If you’re taking the early break, it’s a gamble which has paid off at times in the past, like it did two years ago with Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge). Or you can rely on GreenEdge and the fact that if we aren’t happy with the composition of the break, we will shut it down.

“Now if you take ‘plan B’ out of the equation, then everyone wants to be in the break, because at the end of the day, neither Cadel Evans or Richie Porte have got the teammates to control the final like we have. So it’s going to make for some more aggressive racing than normal, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Evans and Porte in the mix early.”