Cure was training with her pursuit team when the fall occurred.

The fall left fellow star Mel Hoskins in agonising pain.

The 25-year-old's condition is unclear but she was removed from the velodrome boards on a stretcher after lying on the track apron for approximately five minutes.

A team official has told Fairfax Media she is unable to detail Hoskins' injuries but that the rider was being sent to hospital as a precaution.

Hoskins was lined up with four teammates and cycling at speed for a group effort when the fall occurred. It appeared one rider's wheel clipped another's in their formation and caused the women's endurance unit to hit the deck.

The incident has sent a shockwave through the Australian camp that is still assembled at the velodrome for what was meant to be a simple exercise of reconnaissance.

Annette Edmondson was the only one of the five Australian endurance riders who did not fall. The others members of the team pursuit unit for the Olympic track competition starting Wednesday - Ashlee Ankudinoff, Cure and Georgia Baker - fell like dominoes, having been cycling at speed before they crashed.

Cure, Ankudinoff and Baker escaped with track burns and bruising that will leave them sore. 

The Australian cycling team, spearheaded by captain Anna Meares, has high hopes at the new velodrome in Rio which they have used several times since landing in Brazil. 

[Mel Hoskins is tended to before being stretchered into an ambulance]

Mel Hoskins is tended to before being stretchered into an ambulance Photo: Pavel Golovkin

Meares was among the concerned Australian contingent in the velodrome pits when her female teammates crashed. Australia had a two-hour practice session booked at the velodrome on Monday afternoon, Rio time. 

The accident follows a sickening crash in the women's road race on Sunday, which left Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten in intensive care. 

This story first appeared on The Age as Australian Olympic cyclist Mel Hoskins in training crash at Rio velodrome