Kaden Groves, Australia's best sprint hope for a stage win at the Giro d"Italia, has been forced to quit on the fourth stage as a result of injuries suffered on day one.
He follows another Australian star, Jay Vine, who was invalided out after suffering concussion and a broken elbow when crashing on stage two.
Groves was among several riders injured in a mass crash 600 metres from the line as the race opened in Bulgaria on Friday.
The 10-time Grand Tour stage winner was bloodied and limping afterwards, but initially seemed "okay" said his team, Alpecin Premier-Tech.
Groves himself said it was just "a few superficial scrapes all over my body" but it became clear he had shoulder and neck bruising.
He ducked out of contesting the sprint at the end of Sunday's stage three and a day off the bike on Monday's rest day did not ease the pain.
Ahead of Tuesday's stage from Catanzaro to Consenza, the first in Italy, he said, "I didn't ride yesterday. I hope after a complete day off the sensations have improved.
“I’ll take it day by day and see how things are on the climb. I don’t need to risk anything,” he added.
But not long into the 138-km ride through Calabria, before the daunting 14.5km, near six per cent gradient Cozzo Tunno climb, news came through the 27-year-old had withdrawn.
Adding to the physical pain was the knowledge that the race was set up for the Gympie speedster to overhaul Caleb Ewan's 11 Grand Tour stage wins and move second alone on the Australian all-time winners' list, behind Robbie McEwan (24)
In the absence of their big name duo Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen, the Belgian team had anointed Groves, who was wearing No.1 in the race, as their main sprinter.
Now Francesco Busato will be Alpecin's main sprinter though there may also be openings for 25-year-old Australian Jensen Plowright, who had the team's backing on stage three when he finished 18th.
Groves, who won the stage from Potenza to Naples at the Giro last year, had just returned after a break of more than two months with knee trouble following a crash in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad race at the start of March.
The peloton still contains two Australian general classification contenders, Red Bull-BORA hansgrohe's co-leader Jai Hindley and Jayco AlUla's Ben O'Connor.
Hindley was irked by Jan Christian when squeezed out at a bonus sprint, but like O'Connor sits handily 10 seconds behind new race leader Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek, along with with pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease-A-Bike).
Ecuador's Jhonatan Narvaez won the stage, a welcome lift for Vine's UAE Team Emirates XRG. Orluis Aular (Movistar) was second and Ciccone third.
Wednesday’s fifth stage features nearly 4000m of climbing on the 203km route from Praia a Mare to Potenza, a route that could further shake up the standings.
