Clarke was left in tours after edging the final sprint, but it was an awful day for other leading Australians Jack Haig, Ben O’Connor and Caleb Ewan
Australian cycling veteran Simon Clarke has earned a magnificent, last-ditchtriumph to crown 20 years of slog on Europe’s roads after a brutal, crash-strewn cobbled stage.
And there was more grand tour misery for Australian star sprinter Caleb Ewan, who took a nasty tumble when running headlong into a protective hay bale which had come loose at the side of the road with 30km left.Clarke’s career-defining triumph came after a chaotic 157km ride from Lille to Arenberg, featuring more than 19km of the “Hell of the North” cobbles around Roubaix, which had been expected to cause havoc – and most certainly did.
It was the greatest day of Clarke’s 13-year pro career after the Melburnian, whose previous career highlights were winning two stages at the Vuelta a España and being part of a team time trial win in the 2013 Tour, pulled out all the stops to win by a hair’s breadth.
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