A crash sent the first shockwaves through the Tour Down Under as Australian cyclist Jay McCarthy scored a breakout win.
McCarthy also leads the Tour after taking out stage two on Wednesday and defending champion Rohan Dennis is also well-placed.
But it was a day of extremes for three-time Tour winner Simon Gerrans, who had hoped to banish the crash horrors that cruelled him throughout last year.
While Gerrans gained five priceless seconds of time bonuses during the stage, he also went down in the crash about 500m from the finish.
He had hoped to gain more time bonuses by finishing among the top three in the 132km stage from suburban Unley to Stirling in the Adelaide Hills.
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Those hopes were dashed, with Gerrans crossing the line nearly two minutes behind McCarthy.
But he suffered only minor injuries and under race rules he lost no time because the crash happened inside the last three kilometres.
Indeed, Gerrans improved to third overall because of his time bonuses - three seconds for winning Wednesday's first intermediate sprint and another two seconds for being runner-up in the other.
McCarthy (Tinkoff) leads Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) by four seconds overall after the Italian just failed to catch him at the finish.
Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) is next on the general classification at five seconds and Dennis (BMC) is fourth at six seconds.
Thursday's third stage features the steep Corkscrew climb and anyone with title hopes must perform there.
While it is McCarthy's first WorldTour win and he was not among the pre-race favourites, his win is a mild surprise rather than a shock.
Even before his fifth place in this month's elite road race at the Australian championships, Tinkoff had told McCarthy they would back him at the Tour.
He is a fourth-year professional who finished third last year in the Tour of Turkey and also took third in a stage during the 2014 Giro d'Italia.
He is a serious contender and McCarthy's hopes of staying under the radar appear forlorn.
"I haven't had the chance as a WorldTour rider yet to go for an overall victory," he said.
"Hopefully I can keep it up and I think I can still play a bit of an underdog (role) in the bigger picture of this race.
"I feel like the shape's good and I have a good team around me to hopefully go for it."
McCarthy was just ahead of the crash, while Dennis also was lucky because he was the first rider not to be caught in the pileup.
Dutchman Lieuwe Westra (Astana) fell heavily, bringing down Gerrans and teammate Daryl Impey.
The Orica-GreenEDGE pair escaped with abrasions.
The five laps of the testing Stirling circuit and the mid-30s temperature meant a tough day for the riders.
But Australian Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal) flourished, with cycling's ironman going on an 86km solo break that was only caught with 18km left.
Hansen holds the record for the most consecutive Grand Tour finishes - 13 and counting.
