BMC neo-pro Campbell Flakemore has broken his collarbone after crashing on his ride back to the team hotel after stage two of the Santos Tour Down Under on Wednesday.

BMC Racing Team’s @docmajor reports @cflakemore crashed on a descent, breaking his left collarbone and suffering minor road rash. #tdu — BMC Racing Team (@BMCProTeam) January 21, 2015



Flakemore said in a press release that the accident happened while he was negotiating a turn on a descent.

“We were going pretty quickly – maybe 55 or 60 kilometers an hour,” he said. “It was a left-hand turn and on the shoulder there was gravel or I maybe hit a bit of a groove. The next thing I knew I was on the ground. As soon as I got up, I knew something in my shoulder or collarbone was pretty bad.”

BMC Racing Team’s Dr. Scott Major said Flakemore will undergo surgery Thursday in Adelaide.

“It was a clean break in the middle part of the clavicle, which is the best place for a fracture to occur,” Dr. Major said. “It is also most amenable to fixing it surgically.”

Flakemore, who is the reigning U23 world time trial champion, was riding the 17km from Sterling back to Adelaide with his BMC teammates when he crashed. Earlier in the day Flakemore had been part of a stage-long breakaway with Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal). The break was caught with 24km remaining in the stage, which was won by Movistar’s Juan Jose Lobato.

Stirling is popular stage finish for Tour Down Under spectators who often travel to the town by bike to watch the end of the stage. A trademark characteristics of the Tour Down Under is that on most days cyclists can ride back to Adelaide with the pros.

Cadel Evans said about the crash: “As Campbell showed in the national championships and as he showed today, he is a fantastic guy for the race,” Evans said. “Just to get in that (breakaway) move was really clever and observant. He was really showing his maturity and looks like a rider to me who has the capabilities to utilize his physical potential, which is a pretty rare combination. It is really unlucky for him after what he did today and in the national championships. I was just thinking after the race what a good job he is doing.”

Flakemore was fourth in the elite men’s road race at the recent Australian Road Nationals after making the elite selection in the last two laps.

