Team Rabobank went into the Tour Down Under with high hopes and it looked they would come true when sprinter Graeme Brown took over the leader's jersey after the second stage. But at the end of the sixth and final stage, the Dutch team could look back to only one day in the jersey, one second place finish and three thirds, plus two serious injuries.
Mathew Haymen left with a broken collarbone after being taken out by Milram's Elia Rigotto in the end sprint of the fourth stage. Bram de Groot crashed in the fifth stage, and managed to cross the finish line, but a possible broken right hand kept him from starting the final stage.
According to the team's website, rabobank.nl, the tour doctor's examination did not find a fracture, but he continued to have strong pain. Directeur Sportif Erik Dekker said, "We are having x-rays taken before we leave on Monday. It did not look serious at first but his hand remains swollen and sore. I am not a medical expert, but it is a little alarming."
Brown ended the final stage in third place, and Dekker noted that with four podium places, "you cannot label it a failed tour. But we are still a little disappointed that we did not win a stage, because that is what we came for. On top of that, we have lost two important people to fractures for some time. That is also a dark cloud."
