Luke Plapp could be forced out of the Tour Down Under after the Australian cycling star lost a lot of skin in a high-speed crash.
The three-time reigning Australian road race champion has severe road rash down his left back and hip.
The Jayco AlUla rider was caught in a small crash about 10km from the finish of Thursday's stage four, won by compatriot Sam Welsford (BORA-Hansgrohe).
"Plapp has been seen by the on-site medical team at the finish line - many superficial wounds, swollen elbow and ankle," his team said in a statement.
"He won’t travel to hospital. We will monitor him overnight and make an assessment tomorrow before the stage."
Team owner Gerry Ryan visited Plapp in the medical tent at the finish.
"It's a bit early to say (whether Plapp continues on Friday) - he wants to, but let him sleep tonight," Ryan told Channel Seven.
"We'll see how all his pain and the skin that's missing will be digging into him somewhere.
"Hopefully he gets a good night's sleep, but it's most important he gets well."
Ryan said it was more important that Plapp recover from his injuries.
"They (professional cyclists) are very tough. I said to him it's one day, one race, it's a long year," Ryan said.
Plapp's injuries continue a frustrating Tour for Australia's only WorldTour team.
They started the year perfectly, winning five of the six senior titles at the Australian road championships.
But they went winless last week at the women's Tour Down Under.
Plapp boldly declared on Monday at the men's pre-race media conference that they aimed for an unprecedented sweep of the Tour stages and overall title.
They remain winless in the men's Tour as well, with Welsford winning stage one and new Mexican star Isaac del Toro retaining the overall lead after his stage-two win.
Welsford had time to look over his shoulder at the finish after teammate Danny van Poppel gave him a perfect lead-out.
"I'm just riding the wave right now ... I couldn't believe it," the Australian BORA Hansgrohe recruit said of his dream start at the team.
Jayco AlUla's Australian sprint ace Caleb Ewan, who was ill ahead of the Tour, continued his frustrating week by finishing sixth in the 145.3km third stage.
"When I wanted to open up, I was stuck in the middle - it was a bit of an average sprint," Ewan said.
"The good thing is I felt a bit better, but I was a bit disappointed I couldn't open up the sprint."
The race started in suburban Tea Tree Gully, went north to the Barossa and ended outside St Ignatius College in Athelstone.
Plapp finished nearly 10 minutes behind Welsford after the crash, which happened in the hair-raising downhill run through the Adelaide hills to the finish.
Friday's 136.2km stage four from Murray Bridge to Port Elliot will be another sprinters' stage, before the two decisive summit finishes to the final stages over the weekend at Willunga and then Mt Lofty.
