Australian cycling star Richie Porte said he is "massively disappointed" his Tour de France is over for the second year in a row after he crashed out on the tour’s ninth stage.
The Tasmanian was left in tears on the side of the road after he crashed out of the race with a fractured right clavicle.
For the second year in a row, the Tour's ninth stage was cursed for Porte.
On Sunday he crashed 10km into the ninth stage - a 156km ride from Arras to Roubaix.
Speaking with SBS in the aftermath, Porte said it was over for him almost as soon as the crash happened.
“As soon as I’d crashed [I knew], when it hits you… cyclists know when they’ve done their collarbone. I pretty much knew straight away.
“Even before the doctor had looked at me and told me it was broken and I was going to be going home.”
Porte said it wasn’t as bad as last year “but it may as well be”.
“Obviously massively disappointing… being here and had good form and a super strong team, stage nine it’s all over.
“It’s all the hours out on the bike that people don’t see. Up and down the mountains and training camps. Being away from home and family, that’s probably the worst thing.
Despite his tour upset, Porte said he has his eye on future competitions.
“You’ve got to gather yourself, looking forward I have got some good objectives but it still really hurts.”
After the upset his wife Gemma simply tweeted: "I hate cycling!"
Porte says he hopes to recover as soon as possible and get back to racing.
At 33, time is starting to run out for Porte to realise his potential in one of the sport's three main stage races.
His shoulder injury is not as bad as the injuries he suffered during his high-speed crash on the Mont du Chat descent last year.
A non-displaced clavicle fracture is an occupational hazard for a professional cyclist and Porte is already out of the hospital.
What’s next for Porte
Unless there are any unforeseen complications, Porte will be cycling indoors within a week and could return to racing next month.
It's more a question of what Porte does next - for the rest of this season and then the rest of his career.
There is already strong speculation that when team moves are revealed from August 1, Porte will announce he is leaving BMC and heading to Trek-Segafredo.
After Cadel Evans suffered through a disastrous Tour de France in 2009, the Australian revealed he was leaving Silence-Lotto and joining BMC.
That September he made Australian cycling history by winning the UCI Road World Championships cycling event.
It was a crossroads moment in his career and two years later Evans won the Tour de France.
Just as Evans shone on the Mendrisio circuit nine years ago, the steep climbs on the course for this September's Road World Championship at Innsbruck in Austria are ideal for Porte.
The Tasmanian could now aim for the Vuelta a Espana, cycling's last three-week grand tour for the year - after the Giro d'Italia and the Tour.
The Vuelta will run from August 25 to September 16, with the men's world championship road race on September 30.
Forgotten in the immediate aftermath of Porte's latest Tour de France disaster is that up until Sunday he was enjoying a great season.
He had recovered from last year's horrific Tour crash with no apparent complications and after an early-season illness in Europe, Porte claimed probably the biggest win of his career when he took out the Tour de Suisse.
Porte's 2018 demise means the three main Australian drawcards for the Tour this year either have not started or are out of the race.
Australian team Mitchelton-Scott controversially did not pick young sprint ace Caleb Ewan.
Instead, they have put all their resources behind British overall hope Adam Yates.
Australian star Michael Matthews, the reigning green jersey champion, abandoned the race before stage five because of illness.
Read full Tour de France coverage at Cycling Central.
- With AAP
