Simon Gerrans ends season due to fracture

Simon Gerrans of Orica-GreenEDGE has been forced to abandon the Vuelta a Espana, and also end his season, due to a hip fracture he sustained on stage 3 of the race. This is not only a blow for Gerrans but also a blow for the Australian national team, of which he was long-listed to be a member of their world championships squad. The course could suit a punchy rider should the race go that way, and Gerrans was tipped to lead the Australian challenge. Gerrans had been riding since stage 3, hoping the pain would dissipate, but instead it just worsened.

"I've been in quite a bit of pain since my crash on stage 3 but was hoping it wasn't too serious so that I could stay in the Vuelta and prepare for the World Championships. The pain just got worse and worse, and today we decided to have it scanned. That's when we learned about the fracture. I've had a feeling something wasn't right over the last few days. This obviously means my season's over because an injury like this needs time to heal. I was really aiming to finish the year off with some good results, but with this happening, I need to pack it in for 2013."

Gerrans had unsurprisingly been a top performer for Orica-GreenEDGE this year, and perhaps his biggest win was beating Peter Sagan in a reduced bunch sprint to take out a stage of the Tour de France. He got on the podium at Amstel Gold Race, and took out stages of a number of important races. He will no doubt still be a key member of the Australian team next year. He was a key acquisition for the team when the project started in the 2012 season, and has proved his money's worth, also taking out the Tour Down Under, and the prestigious Milan-San Remo last year.