'Hammer blow' - Reaction to shock crash and 'excruciating pain' for Caleb Ewan and team at Tour de France

Eurosport's cycling experts from the Breakaway post-race show have given their reactions to the shock crash that saw star sprinter Caleb Ewan and his team-mates crash on Stage 13 of the Tour de France. Robbie McEwen, Adam Blythe and Dan Lloyd gave their thoughts about the sudden incident with 71km remaining of the charge to Saint-Etienne on Friday that left Ewan in a bad way. Thankfully, he and his team-mates were able to recover and continue racing, but the pain was clearly considerable for the Australian.

Ad/> McEwen began by expressing his sympathy for his compatriot, and he attempted to explain what might have occurred to cause such a dramatic moment with so many riders from one team suffering a nightmare. Tour de FranceOpinion: 'No luck at all' — The sad state of Ewan and Lotto-Soudal after Tour crash14 MINUTES AGO «You can see coming up to that corner, it kind of just crept up on them — a few of the riders just going straight ahead,» McEwen said on the Breakaway. «Caleb was the unlucky one yet again! On day one he crashed at the Giro.

He went down straight and his knee took the brunt of the fall onto that rough road. »He really ripped himself up and it was no surprise to then see him get dropped later. I mean, the pain must have been excruciating.