Will Clarke believes he will be out of racing for 12 weeks after becoming the latest elite Tasmanian cyclist to suffer a major injury.
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Nearly a year after teammate Richie Porte crashed out of the Tour de France for the second year running and two months after Nathan Earle broke his leg in a one-day race in Spain, Clarke broke his collarbone and scapula in the Tour of Belgium.
"I got knocked out 300 metres from the line going for the win," he said from Europe.
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"So I won't be racing for a while. I imagine I won't be coming back to competition for up to 12 weeks. I might need surgery but that will be decided pretty soon."
The Campbell Town 34-year-old was coming off a "super successful" Giro d'Italia in which he helped Trek-Segafredo dominate the climber's classification, claim a stage win and fifth place overall.
"The Giro was a really nice race for me and the team," Clarke added.
"We had great spirit with the guys and we managed to hold the climber's jersey from start to finish."
Clarke had ridden 8502 competitive kilometres for his new team this year in Australia, UAE, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy.
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