BAGNERES-DE-BIGORRE, France (AP) — Cadel Evans will wake up with a sore head and cuts all over his body, and Monday's two huge mountain climbs will tell if the Australian's crash in stage nine of the Tour de France was minor or major.

Evans tumbled over his handlebars, cracking open his helmet as he landed and scraping skin off his shoulder, elbow, knee and thigh during Sunday's ninth stage — in which Italian rider Riccardo Ricco clinched victory with a solo breakaway and Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg kept the race leader's yellow jersey.

Evans was mopped up and bandaged by the Tour doctor, hardly the ideal preparation for a Tour favorite ahead of Monday's 10th stage and its two famed mountain passes — the Tourmalet and the Hautacam — that are so tough they're beyond classification.

Evans' Silence-Lotto team was optimistic after medical checks revealed the 31-year-old Australian, runner-up at the Tour last year, did not break any bones.

"He immediately assured us that it was OK and that it was not something really bad," said Marc Sargeant, Lotto's team director. "He was the first to say, 'It's OK, guys'. He's one of the best riders in this Tour, I'm pretty sure of that."

Still, this accident seems like an open invitation for his rivals to attack Monday — not least Alejandro Valverde, who will look to close a gap of 1 minute, 6 seconds on Evans.

Evans felt the pain of skin scraping off his body as he skidded along the tarmac.