Euskaltel duo avoid serious injury

Euskaltel's pair of young sprinters, Jon Aberasturi and Juan José Lobato, both hit the deck in the closing stages of Friday's fourth stage of the Tour Down Under, both the duo emerged relatively unscathed from the pile-up.

The two, looking for the perfect spot from which to start their sprint in a galloping bunch closing in on the finishing town of Tanunda, crashed hard in the final clicks and brought with them, among others, Garmin-Sharp's Tyler Farrar. They both got back on their bikes to finish the stage, though, and both will line up for Saturday's penultimate leg.

"Today, we thankfully managed to save the day with the Izagirre brothers. The bad luck was me and Aberasturi's fall", 'JJ' Lobato tweeted post-stage, adding they only sustained cuts and bruises and were ready to go "full gas" tomorrow.

The team's own website later reported much of the same, only adding that Lobato's left quadriceps also took a hit.

Going into tomorrow's GC decider over the iconic Willunga Hill, Lobato and Aberasturi (seen above helping fellow crash victim Graeme Brown across the line) are 100th and 101st overall respectively, both at 14:04.

Photo: Orbea