• Tour Down Under

Italian rider breaks leg, Tour Down Under to go ahead

ESPN staff
January 20, 2014
Giovanni Visconti joins Thomas Voeckler on the list of casualties © Getty Images
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Giovanni Visconti is out of the Tour Down Under after the Italian rider suffered a broken leg during the event's curtain-raiser.

Visconti crashed during the street race in Adelaide, and had surgery to repair a compound break in his right leg. And the three-time Italian road champion is the second high-profile name to miss out after four-time Tour de Frane stage winner Thomas Voeckler broke his collarbone during a training ride.

Meanwhile, the beginning of the Tour Down Under will go ahead as planned on Tuesday. Bushfires occurred around the Barossa Valley, which makes up the opening stage from Nuriootpa to Angaston, but the tournament organisers are happy that they are being contained.

"Obviously, this advice might change subject to the conditions and we will continue to be guided by the advice we receive from the Country Fire Service and South Australian Police," race director Mike Turtur said.

"But our advice is that the race route and the towns through which the race will travel are not in the fire area and it is safe for us to continue as planned."

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