Caleb Ewan in full flight was a wonderful thing. I remember his victory in Sisteron on stage three of the Tour de France in 2020, which feels like a different time now. The Australian, then riding for Lotto Soudal, jived and jinked round seemingly every other sprinter on the way to take his fourth Tour stage, which would prove to be his penultimate. While others had whole teams marshalling them to the finish, Ewan did it all on his own, dodging his rivals, almost slamming into the barriers, finding space at high speed before the line came. This wasn’t pure power smashing everyone else away, like Marcel Kittel or Jasper Philipsen, but finesse, fine margins, and expert bike handling.

The idea that this victory came despite, not because of, his team was one which dogged Ewan through his career - the Australian was often the first to point this out. He was the heir to André Greipel at Lotto, but clearly felt unsettled at times in the Belgian team, despite his Giro d'Italia and Tour success while there. He left Lotto under a cloud, then had a disappointing return to Jayco AlUla, which lasted just a season, before he ended up at Ineos Grenadiers.

There was a hope that he had recovered his spark at Ineos, especially as he immediately found winning form. There was even a faint idea that he might line up at the Tour de France again. It turned out this was a nostalgic dream, and also not the reality that Ewan was living. He might have been winning again, and found a better team to be at, but the feeling was no longer there. Ewan is no longer a professional bike rider.

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, Ewan wrote: “Even when I crossed the line first, that feeling - the one you chase for years - faded quicker than it used to. My experiences of the past two seasons, in particular the second half of 2024, has taken a significant toll on my relationship with the sport.”

The full story remains unknown. Previously, the Australian has said of the end of his time at Jayco: “There was a while where I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, to be honest. That was just because I was in a pretty shitty situation with my team. So that was all going on and I honestly did not know what my future was going to hold, it was a very stressful time for me.”

What we do know is that Ewan no longer enjoys racing his bike, not even winning, and that is an understandable reason for hanging up his wheels. He is not the first rider to be honest about stepping away from cycling, but the continuing trend of people opening up about their struggles and reasons for retirement is very welcome. Tom Dumoulin, Marcel Kittel and Leo Hayter are just three to take a step back from cycling for mental health reasons in recent years, and have been allowed to take that move. Support is better than it was in previous decades, and many teams and riders take a holistic approach to their wellbeing. It is not ‘results at all costs’ anymore, and those environments where this is the vibe are shrinking.

People can have difficult times, whether they are living some people’s dream lives - being a professional cyclist, or writing about cycling for a living - or not. Judging someone from their latest results on Procyclingstats or from a performance in a race on television does not give the full picture, as Ewan’s situation reminds us. Last month he was winning, this month he is retiring. That’s allowed; even those who seem ok on the surface are often paddling furiously beneath to appear that way. Situations change, mindsets are altered, priorities differ.

I will remember Ewan as that furious ball of sprinting energy which won 65 races, and came so close to glory at Milan-San Remo twice, but also someone who was honest about their situation, and called time when they felt it was right. Better to go out when you want to, rather than keeping going when things aren’t right. Cheers Caleb, enjoy your retirement.

In the UK, Mind offer a suite of resources if you are struggling with your mental health. Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com, or comment below.

Caleb Ewan has retired from cycling "effective immediately", with the Australian sprinter saying that the last two seasons took a "significant toll" on his relationship with the sport.

The 30-year-old, who signed for Ineos Grenadiers in January, has won two races this season, but wrote on Instagram on Tuesday morning that the feeling of winning "faded quicker than it used to".

Ewan won five stages of the Tour de France, five stages at the Giro d'Italia and a stage of the Vuelta a España, as well as a host more sprint victories - 65 in total across his 13-season career as a pro.

This season, he won stages at Coppi e Bartali and then at Itzulia Basque Country, the latter his first WorldTour win since 2022. Ewan had a difficult 2023, which saw him depart Lotto Dstny early after a "difficult year" bound for Jayco AlUla, where he was then put in a "bad situation", he has previously said.

In a lengthy statement on Instagram this week, Ewan wrote: "After much thought, I've decided to retire from professional cycling, effective immediately. This sport has been a major part of my life, shaping my path and offering experiences I'll carry with me forever.

"Over the course of my 11-year career, I've accomplished more than I ever imagined possible. From personal milestones to professional achievements, the journey has exceeded every expectation I once had, and I'm deeply grateful for the opportunities, challenges, and growth that have shaped my life.

"For as long as I can remember, my world has revolved around racing," he continued. "The intense routine, the sacrifice, the search for constant improvement, the hunger to win it's been my rhythm, my identity. But what once felt like everything to me no longer does. The last few years haven't been easy but in 2025 I found something again -not just legs, but belief-thanks to the Ineos Grenadiers. They gave me space, trust, and the environment to rediscover what I am capable of. I won again. I felt like myself again and I felt respected again. For that, I can't thank them enough.

"But the truth is that even when I crossed the line first, that feeling-the one you chase for years faded quicker than it used to," Ewan wrote. "My experiences of the past two seasons, in particular the second half of 2024, has taken a significant toll on my relationship with the sport. I'm happy I didn't let that period define the end of my career and I am proud of what I achieved in a short but successful time with the Ineos Grenadiers.

"There are so many people to thank -too many to list who've supported me, challenged me, and believed in me throughout the years, and I would like to mention a few: John Allert, Scott Drawer, Mehdi Kordi, Paddy Harrison, and everyone at Ineos Grenadiers. You helped me write one last chapter the way I wanted to. You helped me walk away with pride on my terms. The team is most definitely on the right path with such an exciting future, and I look forward to supporting Ineos Grenadiers forever after."

Ewan went on to thank his former teammates and staff members: "Together, we lived the dream - winning on some of cycling's biggest stages. Those memories and friendships will stay with me forever."

He also paid tribute to his country of Australia, his long-term manager Jason, his parents, and his wife and children.

"This journey hasn't just been mine, it's been ours," he concluded. "Your love, patience and belief never wavered, even when things were hard. I couldn't have done any of it without you."

When he was 17 years old, Caleb Ewan won the first and only world title of his career. It came on the track, in the omnium at the 2011 Junior World Championships, held inside Moscow’s suburban velodrome. A star was born, many thought at the time, and they were right to an extent. Ewan would go on to earn 65 victories on the road, including stage wins at all three Grand Tours, but his track days would effectively stop there.

That is, until now.

With the help of his new team, Ineos Grenadiers, the 30-year-old is rekindling his teenage love for track racing. It comes as part of a bid to help him find an edge for his resurgent road career. This Friday, he’s set to compete in the Good Friday meet at London’s Lee Valley Velodrome – his first track event since he can remember.

The return to the boards, Ewan said, has been eye-opening.

“It’s almost like a completely different sport,” he told Cycling Weekly at the opening of SunGod's new London store earlier this month. “I did a lot of track when I was younger, but since I turned pro, I’ve done basically nothing.

“After years and years of road, especially as a sprinter, I think you wear down your sprint, doing Grand Tours and all the road kilometres that you do. That fast-twitch kind of goes, so the track’s kind of to kick that back in. That’s the idea.”

It is not uncommon for road riders to swap between track and tarmac. SD Worx-Protime's Lotte Kopecky, for example, has won six track world titles, while Ewan's Ineos Grenadiers teammate Filippo Ganna is an Olympic gold medallist.

The plan to re-introduce the Australian back to the boards came courtesy of Mehdi Kordi, Ineos Grenadiers’ new head of performance sport and innovation. Kordi acted until last summer as the head coach of the highly successful Dutch national sprint team, helping to guide Harrie Lavreysen to three gold medals at the Olympics in Paris.

Almost immediately after Ewan joined the British squad, Kordi took him training at the Manchester Velodrome.

“I got my head kicked in a bit,” Ewan laughed. “It was three days of just track, so it was quite intense.”

Sharing the boards at the same time was Great Britain’s men’s sprint squad, the Olympic silver medallists. It didn’t take long before the Australian tried to pit himself against them.

“I said to Mehdi, ‘Can I do a few starts with them?’” he recalled. “On the road, we do something similar, not usually standing starts like that, but a few rolling starts in a big gear. It’s a similar type of effort. To have the opportunity to go up against those guys in something like that, it can really push me along.

“I was chatting to Matty Richo [Matthew Richardson] a bit, who was an Aussie, now a Brit. But track sprinting and road sprinting are completely different. The numbers that those guys do compared to us is much bigger. Obviously they can focus just on the sprint part, whereas we have to focus on getting over the climbs and getting through three weeks of a Grand Tour, on top of the sprint as well.”

Weeks after his track comeback in Manchester, Ewan attended a team camp in Mallorca, where he combined his road training with more work inside the velodrome.

He then made his season debut at Coppi et Bartali, winning on his first attempt in his new team colours. A second win soon followed, this time at Itzulia Basque Country, his first WorldTour victory in three years.

“I guess, in a way, I feel like I’m back at the top level,” he told reporters at the finish line.

It would be a leap, of course, to pin all of the success on his track riding, but the ground work won't been a waste. Does he plan to keep it up? “It’s definitely something that I’ll continue on in the future, maybe do a few races,” Ewan told Cycling Weekly. “I think it can definitely complement your road [racing].”

To this day, the 2011 Junior World Championships in Moscow remain the Australian's last major track competition. They might not be his last.

Over a decade has passed since Ineos Grenadiers last sent a sprinter to the Tour de France. The year was 2012. The rider? A 27-year-old Mark Cavendish, racing in the world champion’s jersey for the then-called Team Sky.

Cavendish won three stages that edition, including the closing one on Paris’s Champs-Élysées. The following year, he signed for Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, Team Sky nailed down its focus to GC domination, and the team never brought a sprinter to the Tour again.

That could all change this July. A late recruit to Ineos Grenadiers’ roster this season, Caleb Ewan has begun his campaign with intent. Victory on debut at Coppi e Bartali was followed on Tuesday by a first WorldTour win in three years at Itzulia Basque Country. Now, the 30-year-old says, his big ambition is to make the Tour squad, following in Cavendish’s footsteps.

“In an ideal world, if all goes well, I can go to the Tour de France. That’s my goal,” Ewan told Cycling Weekly last week at the launch of SunGod’s London store.

“I don’t know exactly what their plan is, and I guess it depends on how everyone’s going in the team, what kind of direction they want to go for when it comes to that.”

From 2012 to 2019, the British WorldTour squad ruled over the Tour, winning seven out of eight editions through Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal.

That stranglehold has slipped in recent years, however. Ineos Grenadiers' highest-placed finisher in 2024 was Carlos Rodríguez in seventh. Stage wins have also proved hard to come by, with the team's riders collecting four over the last five years.

“In an ideal world for [the team] as well, I will also get to a really good level that they think I can compete for wins at the Tour,” said Ewan, already a five-time stage winner.

“I think there are maybe seven or eight opportunities in the Tour for a sprinter. That’s seven or eight opportunities, if I can be going good, that the team has extra. I think they’re really on board with that as well, and I think they’ll definitely try to help me try to get to that point.”

After a winless edition in 2024, could a rejuvenated Ewan bring the spark Ineos Grenadiers need?

The Australian’s calendar will see him race the Tour de Romandie, Four Days of Dunkerque, Tour of Norway, and the Baloise Belgium Tour before selection for the Grand Tour is made. If his form continues, his claim for a spot will be compelling.

“All I can do is try to win as much as possible and prove that I deserve to be there,” Ewan said.

Thirteen years on from the last, a winning sprinter would be a welcome addition for the team.

Robbie McEwen has said that he believes Ineos Grenadiers have a "fresh mentality" coming into the new season which is already bringing them results.

After enduring their worst ever season on record, the team has started 2025 with a bang, winning four times in the first few races of the year.

Michał Kwiatkowski achieved Ineos’ first pro win in 226 days at the Clásica Jaén last week. That was then followed up with Josh Tarling taking victory in the time trial at the UAE Tour, marking the team’s first WorldTour win in 254 days in the process. Prior to those two victories, Egan Bernal won the time trial and road race at the Colombian national championships.

Filippo Ganna appeared to have added to the tally on stage one of the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal. But the opening stage was subsequently cancelled in unusual circumstances.

Speaking on Thursday, TNT Sports expert McEwen backed Ineos to continue their rich vein of form and said that he believed the influence of the more senior figures on the team was partly behind their bright start.

"I think it’s the riders themselves who have brought about the turnaround," McEwen said. "Obviously, they’re the ones pushing the pedals, but from the outside looking in, it seems like the riders have taken much more ownership of their roles within the team. Before, everything was very structured—they were told exactly when to do things, there was a formula to follow.

"Now, it looks like they’re just out there racing their bikes, without overthinking it or waiting for instructions over the race radio. I think they were getting bogged down by all the planning and structure. Now they’re racing with their hearts again. They’re throwing themselves into races and enjoying it, rather than going through a process that’s filled with pressure."

He added: "I think it’s the veterans in the team, like [Michal] Kwiatkowski and Geraint Thomas, who are leading the charge with this new attitude. It really feels like a fresh mentality, and I think that’s driving the team forward, and I’m liking what I’m seeing."

Ineos recently signed Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan from Jayco AIUla, suggesting that the team could partly shift its identity in the coming weeks towards one more focused on sprint stages in Grand Tours. The team has always predominantly been a GC centred squad in the biggest races of the season.

Ewan has not won a WorldTour race since 2022, but McEwen said he believes the 30-year-old is in the right environment now.

He said: "The important thing is that Caleb feels confident, that he’s really welcomed into the team, and that the team is invested in having a sprinter who can win on flat stages. They’ve got the firepower to support him. He just needs to find one or two guys he can really gel with, and if they have some success together, I think that confidence will build. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in the first few races.

"It might be a bit of a struggle at first, considering he hasn’t raced much recently, but I’m willing to give him a couple of months to find top form and start grabbing wins. It would be great to see an INEOS jersey back in the mix in the bunch sprints again."

TNT Sports is the home of cycling in the UK and Ireland. Watch The Ultimate Cycling Show every Thursday at 10pm on Quest.

Caleb Ewan has said he contemplated retirement before joining Ineos Grenadiers after being put in a “bad situation” by his previous team, Jayco AlUla.

Ewan signed a one year deal with Ineos in January after a deal to move to XDS Astana reportedly fell through. The 30-year-old Australian had a contract in place with Jayco AIUla for 2025, but he was then left off the team’s list of riders on its official website.

Speaking on the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast this week, Ewan explained: "There was a while where I didn’t really know what I wanted to do to be honest. That was just because I was in a pretty shitty situation with my team. So that was all going on and I honestly did not know what my future was going to hold, it was a very stressful time for me.

"Because of all that I didn’t really know what I wanted. To be honest they put me in a bad situation and it wasn’t ideal. Now I’ve kind of moved on a bit and I’m happy now that I’ve joined Ineos.”

Ewan turned professional with Jayco AlUla in 2014 in their former guise as Orica-GreenEDGE, before returning at the start of last season after several years with Lotto. The sprinter has won stages of all three Grand Tours, including five at the Tour de France, but he has not won a WorldTour race since 2022.

He also revealed that a potential move to Ineos, formerly known as Team Sky, had been on the table at various points of his career, including right at the beginning when he first turned professional. The 30-year-old explained that the move to the British squad has come at the right time.

“I didn’t know what was going on for I would say the past three months, four months,” Ewan said. “So it was pretty hard to know what I was training for. And I would say I’m a very goal focused person, so when I had no goal or nothing to train for it was pretty hard to get out on the bike. But It’s quite easy now that I’ve got a bit of a clearer focus.”

“It’s [Ineos is] one of the biggest teams in the world for sure. I would say I’ve never really experienced a team of this scale before. There've been a few times in my career where I’ve kind of asked the question of joining, but it never really worked out, so I’m glad this time that it did.”

His former team, Jayco AlUla, declined to comment.

Caleb Ewan will ride for Jayco-AlUla in 2024 after leaving Lotto-Dsnty a year early. The Australian sprinter has had a troubled season with the Belgian team, with both sides making it clear they would like a separation.

This has come to pass, with announcements from first Lotto Dstny making clear that Ewan was to leave, and then from Jayco-AlUla confirming them as Ewan's destination, coming out on Wednesday morning.

It means a return to the beginning for the 29-year-old, as Jayco-AlUla - then Orica GreenEDGE - was where he started his career, before he moved to what was then Lotto Soudal in 2019. After five years with the Belgian team, Ewan is heading back to his original home.

2023 has proved a difficult year for Ewan, and for his relationship with the team. Near misses have been the theme, with eight podium finishes to just one win, which included a second and third place at the Tour de France. 

The Australian sprinter then departed midway through stage 13 of the Tour. bringing to an end his time at the race after almost a fortnight. 

Stéphane Heulot, the CEO of Lotto Dstny, was scathing of Ewan’s performances at the Tour, claiming to Sporza that “his Tour de France is a reflection of what he showed this season and last year".

“The first two sprints were satisfactory,” he said at the time. “The other three sprints were not at all to his liking. He took umbrage at it… it’s a disappointment. The whole team, the staff, the partners, have invested a lot in him. A rider has duties and not only rights. We are entitled to ask for another commitment from him.”

Ewan’s agent Jason Bakker then hit back strongly at the accusations, saying that it was a "humiliation" and "quite disgusting".

"The team has made it clear that they would prefer me to leave, but I still have a contract," Ewan said in September.

“We are happy that Caleb can continue his career elsewhere”, Heulot on Wednesday, announcing his former charge's departure.

“Caleb has won a lot for the team and we are thankful for that and just like in a relationship or marriage you have good and bad days together. 2023 was a difficult year for Caleb. We all know he has a lot of talent, but right now he is not showing that in our team and then it’s better to part ways. We don’t want to hold Caleb back in this new opportunity that he has, so we have decided to allow him to continue his career elsewhere."

Ewan has 60 professional career wins, including five Tour de France stages, and five stages of the Giro d'Italia. His return to Jayco AlUla will mean he is now a teammate of fellow sprinter Dylan Groenewegen, an old rival; the pair will surely battle for a place at the biggest races. The pair have finished first and second on Tour sprint stages on three occassions.

Ewan's new contract will see him stay with Jayco until at least the end of 2025.

"For us to have another Australian rider which such calibre joining us, it is very special, and he will provide us with another fantastic option to challenge for sprint finishes," Brent Copeland, Jayco's general manager, said.

"We have been working hard to add depth to our men’s team and with the addition of another top-level sprinter into our ranks, we are certainly going to be looking for wins in all races that we see Caleb and Dylan line-up in.”

"I'm definitely coming back to the team as a more experienced rider, in the last few years I've won the biggest race of my career and I think I've developed a lot as a rider and also as a leader," Ewan said in the statement from Jayco. "When I joined the team initially, I was only 19 or 20, so I was very young. I learnt a lot from the experienced guys that were already there and used that going forward in my career.

"I have developed as a person and as a rider and I look forward to coming back in more of a leadership role. It will be great to be able to help the younger Australians riders too, to reach their potential and in that way also give back to the team.

"The main thing for me will be getting back to winning ways and I hope to bring a lot of success to the team.”

Lotto Dstny have submitted an official request for clear photo finish imagery of Sunday’s GP Monseré result. 

The Belgian one-day race was decided in a two-up sprint between the ProTeam’s Caleb Ewan and Intermarché-Circus-Wanty’s Gerben Thijssen, with the race organisers ultimately declaring the latter to have won on the line. 

Finish line imagery of the sprint emerged online after the race, but appeared blurry and inconclusive. 

The sprint was so tight that it appeared the honours were initially given to Ewan. The Australian recorded a winner’s interview after the race, before the images were reviewed and Thijssen was declared the victor. 

Since Sunday’s event, Lotto Dstny sports director Nikolas Maes has held discussions with the race organisers and officials in an attempt to gain greater clarity regarding the result decision. Cycling Weekly understands that a clear photo finish image is yet to be provided. 

In a press release shared yesterday, the organisers of the GP Monseré said they were “happy” with the race podium.

“Understandably, a lot of attention afterwards went to the photo finish that was supposed to determine the winner,” the press release continued. “As the organizer we have no responsibility for the organization of this finish line and the finish photo. This task should be done by the Belgian Cycling Federation and the UCI." 

Ewan himself cast doubt over the result on Twitter after the race, sharing two different angles of the sprint and writing: “I kinda think I won.”

He added: “If anyone’s got a photo of big G clearly beating me it would actually make me feel a bit better to be honest.”

At the end of last season, Lotto Dstny were relegated from the WorldTour after they failed to collect enough UCI points over the three-year cycle. The team is now bidding for promotion in 2026, and needs to amass as many points as possible. Thijssen was awarded 125 UCI points for winning the GP Monseré, while Ewan received 80 for second place. 

Cycling Weekly understands that Lotto Dstny are not necessarily looking to see their sprinter restated as the joint winner of the GP Monseré. It is uncertain what action the Belgian team might take if the race officials fail to provide conclusive evidence of the result.

Neither the Belgian Cycling Federation nor the UCI has responded to Cycling Weekly's requests for comment. 

Caleb Ewan has called into question the photo finish decision that saw him place second at the GP Monseré on Sunday. 

The 1.1-ranked Belgian one-day race came down to a bunch sprint in Roeselare, contested on the line by the Lotto-Dstny rider and Intermarché-Circus-Wanty’s Gerben Thijssen. 

The sprint was so tight that it appeared the honours were initially given to Ewan. The Australian recorded a winner’s interview after the race, before the images were reviewed and Thijssen was declared the victor. 

Later that evening, Ewan tweeted a photo that seemed to show his front wheel crossing the line first. “I kinda think I won,” he wrote. “Thoughts?” 

Among those who responded to the Australian's tweet was the newly-crowned Strade Bianche champion Tom Pidcock, who offered a simple eye-roll emoji. In 2021, the Brit lost out to Wout van Aert in an astonishingly close-called Amstel Gold Race, with Pidcock later saying the photo finish imagery "created more questions than have been answered".

Continuing to question the GP Monseré decision, Ewan went on to tweet a different angle of the sprint, again appearing to show him as the winner. “Here’s another one,” he wrote. “If anyone’s got a photo of big G clearly beating me it would actually make me feel a bit better to be honest.” 

Although not initially shown on the race broadcast, the photo finish image later emerged online, but appeared heavily pixelated and inconclusive. According to UCI rules, photo finish equipment, including an electronic timing strip, is obligatory in all UCI road events, be that at WorldTour level or third tier 1.1 races. 

In a press release shared today, the organisers of the GP Monseré said they were "happy" with the race podium. 

The press release continued: "Understandably, a lot of attention afterwards went to the photo finish that was supposed to determine the winner. 

"As the organizer we have no responsibility for the organization of this finish line and the finish photo. This task should be done by the Belgian Cycling Federation and the UCI." 

Speaking after Sunday’s race, Ewan said: “Of course, it’s never nice to lose on a photo finish. This is disappointing but we keep on working to get that victory. I’ve been close a couple of times this season and I’m sure that the win is coming soon.”

The GP Monseré was not the first time this season that Ewan has lost out in a marginal sprint call. On the opening day of last month’s UAE Tour, he was forced to wait 15 minutes for a decision on his two-up battle with Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier, until the race jury ultimately adjudged the latter to have won by a hair’s breadth. 

The Australian’s next target will be Milan-San Remo, a race where he has placed second on two occasions, which is scheduled for 18 March. 

A little less than two weeks after Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) pipped Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny) by the narrowest of margins in a photo finish on the opening stage of the UAE Tour, Merlier continued his fine start to the season with another victory at Paris-Nice, while Ewan was experiencing a presumably unwelcome case of déjà vu over in Belgium.

Sunday's GP Jean-Pierre Monseré, a 1.1-rated one-day race in Flanders, came down to a bunch kick after nearly 200 kilometres of racing on lumpy roads. Leading the sprint charge for his Belgian Lotto Dstny team, Ewan followed his lead-out train and then launched for the finish line.

As the sprint unfolded, Gerben Thijssen of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty pulled neck-and-neck with Ewan, and as they crossed the line, they were so tightly matched that it was not immediately clear who the day's winner really was. Once again, it would come down to a closer look at a photo finish. 

This time, adding to the eventual agony, Ewan was initially declared the winner – only to see that decision reversed.

Upon further review, it was determined that Thijssen, himself a former Lotto rider, had won the day. Yet again, Ewan was left to accept runner-up honors by the narrowest of margins.

“Of course, it’s never nice to lose on a photo finish," he said afterward, according to his team. "This is disappointing but we keep on working to get that victory. I’ve been close a couple of times this season and I’m sure that the win is coming soon."

Thus far, the Australian speedster is still looking for his first international win of 2023 outside of his triumph in the Schwalbe Classic criterium in Adelaide. Then again, if he can make that happen in his next major event, it may have been worth the wait. Even with the disappointing final result, Ewan's GP Jean-Pierre Monseré was a solid marker for both rider and team ahead of his next major objective, Milan-San Remo.

Ewan has finished as runner-up on two separate occasions in the Italian Monument, but has yet to stand atop the podium.

“I had a really strong team with me today and they did great to keep me out of the danger zone and the wind," Ewan said Sunday. "Also when the bunch split for a moment, we were always attentive. The guys rode a strong final and dropped me off perfectly towards the line. Unfortunately, I could not reward them with the win but this team work gives us confidence towards the next races, beginning with Milan-Sanremo.”

Morning all, Tom Thewlis here bringing you all the essential news in the world of cycling on this cold but sunny Wednesday morning. 

It's 21 December and Christmas is around the corner. Are you out riding your bike today? Or are you scrolling through the news, counting down the hours at work? 

Either way, get in touch with me via Twitter or email: tom.thewlis@futurenet.com and let me know what you want to know about today in cycling!

Key Developments

- 09:25- Julian Alaphilippe to miss the Flemish Opening Weekend once more. 
- 09:52- Caleb Ewan confirmed for Milan-San Remo.
- 10:43- B & B Hotels-KTM not registered as a team for 2023 with French National Cycling League.
- 11:09- Autopsy confirms that impact with truck killed Davide Rebellin.
- 11:57- Remco Evenepoel confirms he will begin 2023 campaign at the Vuelta a San Juan.
- 12:09- Organisers unveil US Nocturne Cycling Series.
- 12:40- AG Insurance- Soudal Quick-Step unveils new Castelli for for 2023.
-13:25- Servais Knaven confirmed as AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step sports manager
- 15:33- Alexander Richardson resigns with British UCI Continental team Saint Piran
- 16:32- Movistar release teaser for season four of Netflix documentary 'The Least Expected Day'

JULIAN ALAPHILIPPE TO MISS OMLOOP HET NIEUWSBLAD ONCE MORE

Julian Alaphilippe will reportedly begin his 2023 season with the Faun-Ardèche Classic and Drôme Classic, meaning that he will once more miss the opening weekend of the Flemish Classics in 2023. 

According to WielerFlits, the Frenchman will skip Omloop Het Niewusblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne next February, and instead he will target the alternative races which take place on the same weekend in France instead. 

According to the organiser of the Faun-Ardèche and Drôme Classics, Romain Bardet will also make an appearance in the two events next year. 

Alaphilippe rode both the Faun-Ardèche Classic and Drôme Classic last season, finishing in 25th and fifth respectively. 

One of Alaphilippe's main goals next spring is expected to be the Tour of Flanders, a race he was in contention to win in 2020 before colliding with a motorbike in a horrific crash, before being forced to abandon. 

The rest of his schedule next spring is expected to include the E3 Saxo Classic, Amstel Gold Race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege before he makes a return to the Tour de France. 

Due to injury and illness, Alaphilippe was not selected for last season's Tour.

CALEB EWAN CONFIRMED FOR MILAN-SAN REMO

Caleb Ewan will once again look to land a monument victory at Milan-San Remo next season.

The Australian sprinter has gone close on several occasions, proving himself as being one of a select group of sprinters able to tackle the Poggio climb in the races' finale and stay with the leaders. 

Ewan finished second in San-Remo at the 2018 edition of the race to winner Vincenzo Nibali. He was runner up once more in 2021 to winner Jasper Stuyven. 

Lotto-Dstny manager Kurt Van de Wouwer also told Sporza that rising star on the team, Arnaud De Lie, will appear on a more frequent basis at some of cyclings top classics next season. 

De Lie is expected to start both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix next season.

"We know within the team that Paris-Roubaix has been keeping Arnaud awake for several years," Van de Wouwer said. "He's always very motivated."

B & B HOTELS-KTM NOT REGISTERED WITH FRENCH CYCLING AUTHORITIES FOR 2023

The now defunct B & B Hotels-KTM team have not been registered in any capacity with the French national cycling league for 2023.

B & B Hotels recently collapsed after a big money sponsorship deal failed to materialise, leaving multiple riders facing a last ditch scramble to find new teams for the coming season. 

Mark Cavendish was one of several big name signings that the team were reportedly set to announce, although the squad were ultimately left disappointed by manager Jérôme Pineau.

For a while Pineau had said that the team hoped to at least be able to race at Continental level next year, although according to French newspaper Le Telegramme that is no longer an option. 

Le Telegramme has also reported that approximately 50 people have been left without work after the teams collapse, including 22 riders.

Meanwhile Cavendish has been heavily linked with a move to Astana Qazaqstan. 

AUTOPSY CONFIRMS IMPACT WITH TRUCK KILLED DAVIDE REBELLIN

Davide Rebellin's funeral is due to be held on Friday morning in his hometown of Lonigo near Vicenza in northern Italy, after a scheduled autopsy was completed on his body.

According to reports from various news sources in Italy, results from the autopsy confirmed that the former professional cyclist's death was caused by the impact with the truck that is alleged to have struck him on a roundabout near Lonigo. No other underlying medical conditions were discovered.

According to a report from Cyclingnews, police in Italy are considering issuing a European arrest warrant for the German truck driver, who allegedly stopped after the impact but then drove away and returned to Germany. 

Italian police are due to carry out a reconstruction of the incident to fully understand the details of what happened in the build up to Rebellin's death. 

Authorities reportedly already have both video and photographic evidence from the crime scene which was provided to them by witnesses as well as from cameras in a nearby restaurant car park. 

Rebellin's widow wrote about her heartbreaking loss and love for the former professional rider in a Facebook post. Françoise married the Italian rider in 2004 and they lived together in the hills near Vicenza and Montecarlo. 

"I’m trying to recover from what has happened but how can I without you? Please, hug me with your aura that was so beautiful, so kind and so warming. Give me the strength to pick myself up. Rest in peace, the peace you so deserve. You will always be in my heart, in my being, forever," she wrote. 

Other tributes poured in for Rebellin in the aftermath of his death from across the cycling community.

REMCO EVENEPOEL CONFIRMS HE WILL BEGIN SEASON AT VUELTA A SAN JUAN

Current road world champion Remco Evenepoel has confirmed he will begin his 2023 campaign at the Vuelta San Juan in Argentina. 

The Belgian rider who won both Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Vuelta a España will return to the race where he made his first professional outing in 2019 before returning and winning it the following year. 

In a video released on social media, Evenepoel said he was looking forward to wearing the rainbow jersey in Argentina next year. 

"I'm happy to race again in San Juan, it was my first race as a pro in 2019, I have a lot of great memories from my previous outings in Argentina, and I'm delighted to start my year in the rainbow jersey there," Evenepoel said.

"I hope to see many of those amazing fans on the road and I can't wait to debut my Soudal-QuickStep world champion jersey in a couple of weeks," he added.

ORGANISERS UNVEIL US NOCTURNE CYCLING SERIES

A new three-race criterium series has been unveiled in the United States by its organisers Endurance Sport Marketing. 

Taking place in El Paso, St Petersburg and San Rafael, the three-race series is called Nocturne Cycling Series . Each event will feature several categories of racing through the day and into the night around a 1.5 kilometre circuit. 

The new series builds on the original Nocturne Cycling event which was first developed in 2007 in London. 

“Our firm was honoured to be offered the opportunity to launch the Nocturne Cycling Series in the U.S. and after 18 months of planning, searching, and many site visits, we are happy with the first three choices we made with our partners and cities," Craig Mintzlaff of Endurance Sports Marketing said. 

"Our ideas and London’s success will create a unique event that Americans will find quite different and festive than anything else seen in the States."

The series is scheduled to be held throughout September in 2023 with San Rafael in California playing host to the first race on 9 September. 

It will then travel to El Paso, Texas on 16 September before wrapping in St Petersburg, Florida on 23 September.

AG INSURANCE- SOUDAL QUICK-STEP WOMEN'S TEAM UNVEILS NEW KIT

The recently rebranded AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step team has revealed a new look for 2023 that clearly displays its ties with the men's team moving forward.

Earlier this year, the team were riding under the name AG Insurance-NXTG but partnered with the Patrick Lefevere run Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl squad. 

In addition to Soudal being brought onboard as a new headline sponsor for both the men's and women's teams, Castelli has also come onboard as kit supplier to the new women's team. 

Both of the teams new kit's follow a similar design made up of dark blue and white, with just logos of a few key sponsors being the main difference. 

DATES FOR THE UAE TOUR IN 2023 RELEASED

Earlier this week the dates for the UAE Tour in 2023 were confirmed by race organisers RCS. 

Next years edition of the race through the desert is due to start and finish in Abu Dhabi, and will take place between 20-26 February 2023. Further details of the route are expected to be announced in early January.

Fabrizio D'Amico, chief operating officer for RCS Sports and UAE Tour director said that once again, the UAE Tour will provide the perfect opportunity for the best riders in the world to begin their season. 

“For the past eight years the UAE has exponentially grown from strength to strength in professional cycling. The seven stage WorldTour race will enter is fifth edition in February 2023 and will once again attract the best riders from all the world," he said.

"The UAE Tour is always an exciting race as it allows the riders to test themselves ahead of the European calendar races and the Grand Tour races and sets the tone of the season to come”.

The first ever UAE Tour was held in 2019 and was won by Primož Roglič. 

Adam Yates won the race the following year during the Covid interrupted 2020 season, with Tadej Pogačar taking the victory in both 2021 and 2022. 

Meanwhile little is currently known about the 2023 UAE Tour for women.  

AG INSURANCE-SOUDAL QUICK-STEP CONFIRM SERVAIS KNAVEN TO BE NEW SPORTS MANAGER

Servais Knaven has been confirmed as the new sports manager for the AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step team for 2023 according to our sister site Cyclingnews.

Until recently Knaven was working as a directeur sportif for the Ineos Grenadiers team but left during an overhaul of the British squads coaching staff this winter.  

Knaven’s wife Natascha van Ouden, a four-time Dutch cyclo-cross champion, is already the team manager, while his daughters Britt, Mirre and Senne Knaven are all part of the roster for the next season.

Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio also recently signed for the Dutch registered team from SD Worx for 2023.

Partnering with the men's Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl squad for the new season will see them share backers with Patrick Lefevere's men's team. Both squads will have Soudal as a headline sponsor and share Castelli as a kit supplier.

“All the parties who are putting their shoulders to the wheel of our women's team have been active in cycling for several years, so they are familiar with the ins and outs of the cycling world,” Lefevere said.

“It’s a factor that is obviously extremely important if you want to build something together.”

ALEX RICHARDSON RE-SIGNS WITH SAINT PIRAN FOR 2023

British UCI Continental team Saint Piran have confirmed that star rider Alex Richardson has resigned with the Cornwall-based team for 2023. 

Former WiV SunGod rider Richardson has vast experience at a higher level, previously racing for UCI ProTeam Alpecin-Fenix. He also came third in the British national championships road race this year behind Mark Cavendish and Sam Watson. 

The 32-year-old also took the honours at the Ryedale GP this year in what was a solid season in the colours of Saint Piran. 

Richard Pascoe, general manager of the British team said that keeping hold of Richardson was central to the teams long term racing ambitions. 

“We are a family and building a team is about lots of different aspects coming together sure performance is key but what we have in Alex is a man that portrays the right values in a human . This leadership is key am delighted he has committed to Saint Piran for the foreseeable future," Pascoe said. 

"He’s a road captain and we have some unfinished business for and with Alex around what he wants to achieve . The last eight months is about building a culture in the team, and one which all our riders thrive in and Alex is central to developing all our new talent," he added.

SERGIO HIGUITA SAYS SOME WORLDTOUR TEAMS 'FORGET' ABOUT SENIOR PROS

Sergio Higuita has said that some top level cycling teams are so focussed on finding the next Tadej Pogačar, they then forget that older riders on their roster can still perform at a very high level. 

In an interview with El Colombiano, Higuita explained that he feels teams are too caught up in the pursuit to find the next Evenepoel, Ayuso or Pogacar and forget about the quality that they already have.

“There is too much pressure for riders today," Higuita said. "It is that with what they have been doing, for example, Remco, Tadej or Ayuso, the big teams believe that it is the young people who are going to perform and not the old ones. And it happens that with Roglic, Quintana, Urán... you can also achieve high performance."

"The teams are looking for a new Pogacar, but not all young riders are going to become like him," he added.

Higuita is one of several South American riders that has risen through cycling's development ranks to then go on to perform at the highest level in the WorldTour and achieve results. 

Last season Higuita won the Colombian national road championships as well as winning the general classification at the Volta a Catalunya. 

However, Higuita has noticed that the development programme that he along with other riders such as Egan Bernal, Dani Martinez and Santiago Buitrago followed is now "being ignored". 

“The quality is still there, but due to the desire to get young Colombian cyclists, they are skipping the processes. A good school must be done, especially in Europe, as Dani Martínez, Bernal, Iván Sosa, Santiago Buitrago, I did... I saw that none of them immediately made it to the WorldTour," he added.

MOVISTAR RELEASE TEASER FOR 'THE LEAST EXPECTED DAY' SEASON FOUR

Movistar have released a short teaser video for season four of their Netflix documentary 'The Least Expected Day'. 

The show run in collaboration with Netflix has been highly successful for the Spanish team. Each season has documented the teams most recent year with the recently released third season documenting the fallout of Miguel Angel Lopez's row with management at the Vuelta a Espana. 

Other highlights of season three was an in depth look at Annemiek van Vleuten's success with the team so far. 

In the late summer I watched the whole series so that you don't have to! Here's what I learned from watching season three of the least expected day. 

Over at Cycling Weekly, this is what we want to see in the upcoming series too. 

Right! That's all we've got time for today folks!

See you back here for another day of live blog action tomorrow!

Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, who rode for Lotto-Soudal at the Tour de France this year, has said that the current WorldTour system in cycling is endangering many smaller teams' futures. 

The South African professional, who was part of Caleb Ewan’s sprint train last season, believes that the current WorldTour system is “preventing growth” in cycling, leaving some teams “fighting against everything” just to survive. 

Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Janse van Rensburg said that without change cycling will see further teams collapse in the same manner as B & B Hotels-KTM did earlier this week. 

“I think the system at the moment and how it’s set up is killing all the smaller teams, all the Pro Continental teams, they just don’t have a chance to shine,” he said. 

“You’ve got the 18 WorldTour teams, and then the two Pro-Continental teams that are guaranteed invites to all the WorldTour races, so race organisers only have like two invites that they can send out.” 

“So then if you’re a French race organiser you’ve got two French Pro-Conti teams lined up, if you’re Italian, you’ve probably then got one or two Italian teams lined up. So if you’re at Pro-Continental level, you’re kind of fighting against everything just to try and get an invite to WorldTour races, which I don’t think is really fair,” he added. “It’s limiting things for teams, and I think the system is actually preventing growth inside cycling.”

In recent days, the management of Norwegian Proteam Uno-X explained that they were watching the situation of the stricken B & B Hotels-KTM team with a close eye. The demise of the French team now means that Uno-X are arguably in a stronger position to receive an invite to the Tour de France next year. 

Janse van Rensburg responded to a tweet from Cyclingnews which contained comments from Uno-X to express his frustration at the system. Something which he clarified was not a direct dig at the Norwegian team but at the wider system in general. 

“To be clear, my comment was not a dig at Uno-X or their position about this. It’s more about the system in the WorldTour, that’s what my comment was about. It’s not about Uno-X, it’s really understandable their position. It’s the system that’s frustrating me,” he explained. 

POINTS SYSTEM IS 'COMPLETELY BROKEN'

Janse van Rensburg is among those that see problems with state of the WorldTour relegation system and the way in which points are allocated during the season. 

The points given to riders for minor one day races are often offer a better return on investment than wins at bigger stage races like the Tour de France.

In recent weeks prominent figures including Chris Froome have spoken out against the set up, with Froome branding it a “death sentence” for smaller teams. EF Education Easy-Post boss Jonathan Vaughters also slammed the points system saying it led to an “absurd” way of racing. 

Janse van Rensburg explained that the points system in his mind is “completely broken”. 

“It’s a big factor in all of this. I think the points system is completely broken with how it works, it just doesn’t make sense the way in which points are allocated. First that needs to be fixed and then the relegation system has to be looked at too,” he said. 

“I think it would actually make sense to have even fewer WorldTour teams, say only 10. Then you could have 12 wildcards or Pro-Continental or whatever. Then it could be much more competitive and much more supportive and fair with how teams get to the big races,” he added. 

“Otherwise there are very limited opportunities if you’re not one of the top 20 teams in the system.”

When asked if he expected to see further teams fold like B & B Hotels did Janse van Rensburg said: “Oh definitely. With there only being spots on the big races for those 20 teams, the rest is just all fighting. So if you’re not one of those 20 teams then good luck to you. It’s terrible news for B & B. The system is really limiting teams chances and it’s not healthy for the sport.

“I think maybe the Tour de France is becoming too prominent in the calendar. Of course you need that premier event in any sport, but I think cycling is much bigger than that. There’s more events than just the Tour.”

“With that I just think the WorldTour is just killing all the small teams. It’s always the same teams, at all the races. Some teams get all the opportunities and the other ones are just fighting for scraps,” he added.

Janse van Rensburg left Lotto-Soudal at the end of the 2022 season, and explained on social media that he will be stepping back from racing at WorldTour level. Something which he told Cycling Weekly was partly affected by his feelings towards competition at that level and the wider system.

“It definitely played a role in my decision. When you see what I’m involved in next year, I can elaborate more on that.”

Caleb Ewan will stay at Lotto-Soudal for 2023 despite the team's soon to be confirmed relegation from the WorldTour.

Cycling Weekly understands that the Australian sprinter has expressed no desire to leave the team due to their relegation, and that Ewan has said that he will stay with the squad and honour his contract which runs until the end of 2024. 

A spokesperson for Lotto Soudal confirmed to Cycling Weekly that despite the team's situation, Ewan was “not going anywhere”. 

“Caleb has said internally to us that he will stay on the team. At the moment we’re planning and discussing his programme and goals for next season, which will continue next week,” the spokesperson said. 

Ewan recently signed a new contract which runs until the end of the 2024 season. When asked by Cycling Weekly whether there was a clause allowing him to leave following the team’s relegation, they explained that Ewan like other riders may have wanted to leave, but that the impending relegation “changes nothing”. 

“It could change it, but it doesn’t. The potential relegation was an issue for the entire season and something that he [Ewan] was aware of. Although he has always expressed his intention to stay towards us and nothing will change,” they said. 

“There is always an option riders want to leave, relegation or not. We have seen this on multiple occasions and teams before. But we have no signals from any riders wanting to leave. 

"Caleb extended his contract together with Jasper De Buyst. They will be a hard to beat combination in 2023. For them, nothing changes, next year we will be fighting for victory in the biggest races like we have been the past years," they added. 

“We will still be able to ride the Tour, the Giro and Milan San Remo which were Caleb’s biggest goals last season. His sprint train hasn’t changed much, so for him and us things don’t really change. The goals stay the same and the programme will remain the same. There’s no benefit here to anyone taking a different course.” 

Meanwhile the team spokesperson explained that Lotto-Soudal are viewing their relegation as “an opportunity to take a step back to then advance further" in the long term, and that Ewan deciding to stay with the team was a huge statement of intent. 

They said: “For us to convince all our riders of our project for next season, we had to take some steps and think about ways we could change things for the better and for the good of the team. The fact that for example Caleb says ‘ok I’m committed to this team, they have a plan for me and for the entire team’ just confirms to us that we’re moving in the right direction.”

Jonathan Vaughters along with Chris Froome have recently condemned the structure of the WorldTour relegation system, with Froome labelling it as a "death sentence" for many other teams.

Froome's team Israel-Premier Tech are expected to join Lotto-Soudal at ProTour level in 2023 after also being relegated.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) has said he is "heartbroken" after not being selected to represent Australia at his country’s home World Championships next month. 

The 28-year-old, who won stage one of the Deutschland Tour on Wednesday, wrote on Twitter: “To be honest I don’t have much to say on the matter other than I’m heartbroken I won’t be there to represent my country and that I believe I deserved to be there.”

Ewan concluded the post by saying: “Anyways, sob story over.”

On Thursday, AusCycling announced the full road squad that will compete in Wollongong. The eight riders set to represent Australia in the men's elite event are Simon Clarke (Israel Premier-Tech), Luke Durbridge (BikeExchange-Jayco), Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain Victorious), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe), Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco), Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën), Nick Schultz (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers). The latter will also contest the individual time trial.

Seven riders form Australia’s elite women’s squad, including Amanda Spratt, who will race her 10th World Championships. Spratt will be joined by her BikeExchange-Jayco teammates Alexandra Manly and Georgia Baker, as well as Grace Brown, Brodie Chapman (FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope) Sarah Roy (Canyon-SRAM) and Josie Talbot (Team Farto-BTC). Brown and Baker will compete in the individual time trial.

The squad announcement was expected to be made on Tuesday, but was delayed after AusCycling revealed that two athletes had appealed the selection. It is unknown whether Ewan was one of the riders who launched an appeal.

In his post-race interview at the Deutschland Tour, Ewan said: “Their [AusCycling’s] decision is their decision and it’s true that I haven’t been performing over the last few months.”

“I was super motivated to get ready and try to win [the World Championships], but like I said, they have their reasons and I have to respect that. It’s disappointing but I’m still going to use that form to try and end the season well.”

2022 has been a difficult year for the sprinter, with crashes at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France causing him to fall short of a stage win at either Grand Tour. Ewan was previously tipped as an early favourite for the men's road race, however the 266.9km course, which counts almost 4,000m of climbing, may not be best suited to his abilities.

AusCycling’s full road squad for the 2022 UCI World Championships is listed below.

Men elite

Jai Hindley
Michael Matthews
Ben O’Connor
Lucke Plapp
Nick Schultz
Simon Clarke
Luke Durbridge
Heinrich Haussler

Women elite

Amanda Spratt
Georgia Baker
Grace Brown
Brodie Chapman
Alexandra Manly
Sarah Roy
Josie Talbot

Men U23

Matthew Dinham
Dylan George
Dylan Hopkins
Jensen Plowright
Rudy Porter

Men junior

Oscar Chamberlain
William Eaves
Hamish McKenzie
Cameron Rogers 

Women junior 

Talia Appleton
Belinda Bailey
Isabelle Carnes
Bronte Stewart
Lucinda Stewart

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) is expected to miss out on selection for the World Championship road race held on September 25 in Australia. 

According to Het Nieuwsblad the Lotto-Soudal rider will be left out of the Australian squad completely and won’t be considered as a reserve. 

The omission will come as a bitter blow for Ewan who had been targeting the road race at the championships for some time.  

Meanwhile, AusCycling released a short statement confirming that a full squad announcement will be delayed due to two selection appeals. 

AusCycling executive general manager of performance, Jesse Korf, said “The UCI Road World Championships is a pinnacle event in the racing calendar and competition for places in our team is strong,” he added “Two athletes have appealed, as is their right, and we will give the process the time it needs. We anticipate an announcement on the Australian team for the championships to be made next week.”

It’s believed that the head coach of the Australian cycling federation, Rory Sutherland, feels that Ewan’s current condition is not sufficient to challenge at the road race in Wollongong. Michael Matthews (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) is expected to be one of the Australian team’s lead riders. 

28-year-old Ewan has had far from an ideal year. The Australian pulled out of the Giro d’Italia in May and called this year’s edition of the Italian Grand Tour the “Giro from Hell”. 

Since then the sprinter has struggled for form and visibly suffered at the Tour de France in July after being involved in a heavy-crash. 

After going down heavily on stage 13 of the race, Ewan admitted he was struggling for form. 

He said, "I feel like I need to catch a break with my luck. It is what it is, and it's part of being a cyclist. Sometimes you have a run of bad luck and I'm having that now but hopefully it turns soon."

After the crash, Ewan was paced back into the peloton which resulted in a fine for the Lotto-Soudal man along with the Alpecin-Fenix sports director Christophe Roodhooft. Ewan sat behind the Belgian team’s car for a period of time as he eventually made it back into the main field. 

Earlier on in the race, Ewan admitted that he feared missing the time cut on a stage unless his form dramatically improved. 

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) bemoaned the lack of sprint opportunities at this year’s Tour de France after Lotto Soudal missed out on a victory again on stage 13. 

The stage was won by Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) from the breakaway, after he outsprinted Great Britain’s Fred Wright and Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) in the final kilometre. 

Earlier on in the stage, Australian sprinter Ewan suffered a heavy crash after appearing to touch wheels with a teammate as they rounded a tight left hand bend. Ewan, complete with a nasty gash on his right elbow, looked visibly shaken as he struggled to get back to his feet and had to be assisted by Lotto-Soudal staff.

The Australian was left clutching his left knee, which was also cut, for a few minutes before eventually re-mounting his bike and attempting to re-join the peloton. 

After crossing the finishing line on a blisteringly hot day, Ewan  said: “I felt really good today actually. That’s why we started to commit our guys to controlling the breakaway and they were doing a really good job. They never got too far ahead, but yeah, I don’t know what happened in the corner.” 

He added: “My knee is really sore and my shoulder is pretty sore. I broke my collarbone last year, so hopefully that’s alright. Once I went down I didn’t feel so good anymore, and after a big chase to get back on before the final climb, I had nothing left really.” 

Just two stages this year have ended in a bunch sprint. Stage two was won by Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco) was victorious on stage three. 

Ewan explained that at this point in the race, opportunities are running out for the pure sprinters. 

He said: “It’s stage 13 now and we’ve only had two bunch sprints. So yeah, it hasn’t been a great Tour for the sprinters. We saw today as an opportunity and we tried to take it, but yeah, bad luck again.” 

The Lotto-Soudal sprinter has suffered severe crashes before in his career. 

Earlier this year, Ewan competed in the Giro d’Italia and labelled this year's edition as “the Giro from hell.” 

Ewan suffered a crash on stage one of the race and continued to deal with the after effects of that throughout the Italian grand-tour. He later abandoned the race and did not start stage 12. 

Admitting that he was on a run of bad luck, Ewan said: "I feel like I need to catch a break with my luck. It is what it is, and it's part of being a cyclist. Sometimes you have a run of bad luck and I'm having that now but hopefully it turns soon."

Sunday’s stage into Carcassonne could give the sprinters another chance before Paris. Stage 19, which finishes in Cahors, is also an opportunity for a sprinter, although with Wout Van Aert, Jakobsen and Groenewegen all showing good form in this year's Tour de France, Ewan’s path to the stage win he craves is far from clear. 

Earlier this year the prospect of rolling down the start ramp at the Tour de France's opening time trial in Copenhagen felt impossibly far away for Reinardt Janse van Rensburg. He was on the brink of being forced to give up cycling.

The 33 year old had been a free agent after the collapse of Qhubeka-NextHash, at the end of 2021. 

After a rollercoaster few months, he then joined Lotto Soudal and tells Cycling Weekly being included in the team's line-up for the Tour de France, his sixth, has been a surreal experience. 

“It was quite unexpected. A few months ago I was thinking that I was going to have to retire and that my career was finished," he says.

"If you had told me even just a couple of weeks ago that I’ll be at the start of the Tour de France again, the biggest bike race in the world, I wouldn’t have believed you. It really has been an incredible ride! An amazing story and feeling. Yeah, I really am having to pinch myself a little bit about it." 

Within just five minutes with Janse van Rensburg, it’s clear that the South African rider is a fighter and that giving up over that bleak winter was never an option. 

“I was very motivated to train. I was always hoping and always believing that contracts even later in the year would come. I’d seen other riders do it before me so I knew it was possible. There was always a chance a spot may open up. I kept going and having the National Championships at home became a big goal and helped me to keep my focus,” Janse van Rensburg recalls.

“Having goals has always helped to keep me motivated in my head and to train” he added. 

Speaking ahead of the grand depart in Copenhagen on Friday, Janse van Rensburg told Cycling Weekly how special it would feel although his first would always remain a highlight. 

When Lotto Soudal unveiled its Tour team, the South African National Champion received messages from groups of well-wishers and fans that have all followed his story and were revelling in the news. 

“It’s been really incredible. I literally had hundreds of people sending me nice, personal messages and comments. It’s been actually amazing,” he says. 

“I just want to thank actually all of those people who messaged. A lot of people told me that they were inspired by my story which was so nice to hear” Janse van Rensburg adds. 

Lotto Soudal arrive at the Tour de France with ‘one of the fastest riders of the peloton’ in the shape of Caleb Ewan and first and foremost, will target stage wins with him. Janse van Rensburg’s role in the team will be to form part of Ewan's lead out train.

However, sprint opportunities at this year's race are scarce. Changes in the way the green jersey competition is contested also means that Janse van Rensburg doesn’t see the team considering the competition for now. 

“You have to be able to be competitive in the mountains and be in the intermediate sprints every day. So I actually think being a sprinter is really hard and winning the green jersey nowadays is a really difficult thing” he said. 

Regardless of results the opening  days of the race will be a time of celebration at Lotto Soudal as Tim Wellens celebrated 10 years on the team yesterday and Philippe Gilbert turns 40. 

Yet despite the upbeat atmosphere in the team, Janse van Rensburg admits that covid-19 is putting something of a dampener on proceedings. “There is definitely heightened awareness now [after the Tour de Suisse] compared to a couple of weeks ago. We’re taking all the precautions we can as a team to make sure everyone stays healthy. It’s returned to like before for us with masks, sanitising everything and just trying to keep in a group bubble, it’s not nice but I can totally understand why everyone is stressing about it right now” he said. 

In 2022, riders of the likes of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert) have put African cycling in the spotlight. The World Championships will be held in Rwanda in 2025. African cycling appears to be enjoying a rise in prominence.

However, Janse van Rensburg says the loss of Qhubeka-NextHash was a big blow and the impact is still felt. 

“It’s terrible that we don’t have that African team now. There are very few teams at a continental level," he explains. "I think opportunities are much harder now, you have to hope that your country has got a good national programme so that they can send you to races in Europe. Otherwise you have to rely on a sponsor or something like that to get to Europe and compete. We really need to have more teams from Africa, especially at lower levels, that can help people out there get noticed. There is a lot of work to be done to help things change” Janse van Rensburg said. 

The South African rider woke up in Copenhagen on Friday and pulled on the South Africa National Champion’s jersey before getting his Tour de France under way. Speaking ahead of the start the 33 year old admitted it would be a proud moment and one he was looking forward to. 

“I guess I might be biased, but I think it’s a very beautiful jersey and a lot of South African people have sent messages of support. It’s a very visible jersey which is nice for the South African fans as they can pick you out in the peloton” he said. 

“At the moment I’m also really looking forward to the cobbled stage five” Janse van Rensburg added, although the 33 year old was coy on his individual plans for the day. 

“It will depend on our tactics as a team for the day and the race situation. One thing is we will probably be one of the teams racing quite aggressively that day so hopefully at least one of our guys will be up there at the end.” Even making it to the beginning has been an achievement for Janse van Rensburg no matter where he finishes.

Lotto Soudal has confirmed its Tour de France line-up with the intention of targeting stage wins once racing gets underway. 

Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan will form a major part of the Belgian team's strategy, the 27-year-old will lock horns with Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) in the hunt for victories on the race's sprint stages. 

“With Caleb Ewan we have one of the fastest riders of the peloton, he is our biggest chance on a stage win," explained Lotto CEO John Lelangue. "Therefore we have made sure he is well surrounded with Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Frederik Frison, Florian Vermeersch and Brent Van Moer," he added.

The five-time Tour de France stage winner's 2022 successes include stage wins at the Tour of Turkey, Tirreno-Adriatico, and the Saudi Tour. With Lotto currently facing World Tour relegation, Ewan's performance will be crucial to the team in the months ahead.

There are also places for Philippe Gilbert, Tim Wellens and Andreas Kron who will all target the hillier stages, where the likes of Ewan will be out of contention. 

Looking at the Tour de France 2022 route, with stage five's cobbles finishing in Arenberg, Florian Vermeersch and Brent Van Moer also make the team. 

Vermeersch finished second to Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) at the 2021 Paris Roubaix and will certainly be one to watch on stage 5. South African rider Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and Frederik Frison also make the cut for the team. 

Lelangue highlighted the strength in depth of the Lotto squad and their ability to be involved on varied terrain “With these 8 we can play our part on almost every terrain in this Tour de France.” he said. The team are expected to be competitive throughout the Tour with a particular eye on stage 5. 

Lotto will be looking at getting riders into good breakaway opportunities meaning the focus isn’t all on Ewan to perform. 

He added: "Those last two will also definitely have highlighted the cobbled stage to Arenberg. Furthermore, Philippe Gilbert, Andreas Kron and Tim Wellens have proven the last weeks to be in a very good shape. They will definitely be active in the more difficult stages and be present in breakaways.”

Caleb Ewan has withdrawn from the 2022 Giro d'Italia following the conclusion of stage 11, as the Australian now turns his attention to preparing for the Tour de France in July. 

Confirmed by his Lotto-Soudal team, Ewan always intended to pull out before the big mountain stages started to come thick and fast. Part of that plan also involved him picking up some wins, though, which ultimately never came to fruition, with the 27-year-old calling the race the 'Giro from hell'.

The decision means that Ewan won't take to the start line of stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia 2022 route, a 204km ride from Parma to Genova. He will now start to prepare for the Tour de France, where he will hope for a much stronger showing in a couple of months time. 

A Lotto-Soudal statement said: “Lotto Soudal rider Caleb Ewan will not be at the start of stage twelve of the Giro, raced between Parma and Genova. As initially planned, the Australian will leave the Giro during the second week of racing. With plenty of mountain stages coming up, together with the team it was decided that Ewan will be heading home.

“Following a short period of rest, the sprinter will build up towards his next big goal of the season, the Tour de France, where he will also be targeting victories in the sprint stages.”

The Australian started the 2022 Giro d'Italia looking to add to his five stage career wins at the Grand Tour, and perhaps even lead the points jersey at some stage, too. 

Instead, Ewan endured a tumultuous period at the Giro, leading him to call it the 'Giro from hell' on Instagram. This came after stage ten, where he finished dead last and 31 minutes and 18 seconds behind winner Biniam Girmay, compounding the misery he faced in four previous races up until that point. 

Stage 11 seemed like the last roll of the dice for Ewan to take a victory, but he could only manage fifth-place on the run to the line as he called time on his racing at the Italian Grand Tour this year. 

His decision to leave early isn't new though. Ewan has competed in five Giros and never finished any, choosing to chase early sprint stage wins before withdrawing to enable optimal Tour de France preparation.

Caleb Ewan's woes at the 2022 Giro d'Italia continued on stage ten yesterday, with the Australian referring to the race as the "Giro from hell" on Instagram.

Crossing the line in Jesi dead last and 31 minutes and 18 seconds after stage winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux), Ewan just managed to make it within the time limit to ensure he starts stage 11 of the Grand Tour today. 

Riding alone at the back of the race for 80km further compounded the Lotto-Soudal rider's difficulties, as teammate Roger Kluge had to leave him further behind in order to make the time limit himself, with the German finishing a minute and a half up ahead. 

"The Giro from hell continued for me today [Tuesday]," Ewan wrote on Instagram. "Got dropped with around 80km to go alone and just made it within the time limit. Since my crash on the first stage I feel like my Giro just keeps going down hill.

"Another sprint chance tomorrow so I’m hoping to turn it around."

Referring to stage 11, a 203km flat race from Santarcangelo di Romagna to Reggio Emilia, Ewan indicates he will throw everything he has at the day in an attempt to change his fortunes around. The Australian came into the 2022 Giro d'Italia full of optimism that he would add to his five stage wins at the Italian Grand Tour and potentially even take the points jersey come the end of the race.

However, it hasn't quite worked out that way for him. 

The Lotto-Soudal rider looked nailed on to secure at least a podium place on the opening stage in Hungary, but a touch of wheels with Biniam Girmay saw him crash just 200m from the line and subsequently finish way down the order. 

On stage three, Ewan finished eighth as he failed to get his sprint going as Mark Cavendish won, while the peloton dropped him on stage five, leaving him unable to compete in the final bunch sprint. 

Perhaps most hellish of all of Ewan's results came on stage six, though. Rather than taking solace in finishing on the second step of the podium, Ewan no doubt rued the day as a missed opportunity to take the win. 

Coming into the final 100m, the 27-year-old overtook Cavendish as he looked set to take his first stage win of the Grand Tour, but Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) just managed to pip him to the first place through a superior throw, with a photo finish deciding the final placings. 

Regardless, stage 11 presents one of three more chances Ewan has at this year's Giro to emerge victorious, with two further flat days scheduled for stage 13 and 18, respectively. 

Caleb Ewan will continue at the Giro d'Italia 2022 despite his crash on stage one, his Lotto-Soudal team have confirmed.

Ewan touched the back wheel of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) in the closing sprint of the opening stage of the Giro, hitting the ground hard on his left shoulder.

After laying on the road for a few moments the Australian was able to return to his feet of his own accord, though looked battered and bruised, his left shoulder exposed where his skinsuit had ripped on impact with the tarmac.

Ewan was in an unexpectedly good position considering the severity of the final climb to the line on the 195km stage from Budapest to Visegrád, but trailed Girmay and eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) in the closing metres. Head down and clearly at maximum effort, the 27-year-old narrowly caught Girmay's rear wheel as they sprinted, sending him sprawling to the ground. Ewan eventually crossed the line on a broken bike 1-04 down on Van der Poel in 76th place.

Although he missed out on the stage victory and the chance to wear the race's first maglia rosa, Ewan will be pleased to be able to continue in the race. His team confirmed his injuries are not severe and that he'll take to the start of the 9.2km time trial on stage two, which will afford him a chance to recover before the next road stage.

"Unfortunately, Caleb Ewan touched the back wheel of Girmay, which caused him to crash just before the finish line," Lotto-Soudal said in a statement.

"Apart from several abrasions, Caleb came away without any severe injuries and will take the start in the ITT tomorrow."

Ewan's avoidance of race-ending injury is in stark contrast to his last Grand Tour at the Tour de France last year, where he crashed in another chaotic sprint finish on stage three and was forced to abandon the race with a broken collarbone.

Caleb Ewan won't start at Milan-San Remo on Saturday March 19 after contracting an illness, Lotto-Soudal have confirmed.

The Australian rider approached the weekend full of confidence and as the bookies' second-favourite to win the race, behind Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), but he now won't participate in the Monument that has proved so elusive for him, having finished in second twice during his career. 

Lotto-Soudal's medical team and Ewan tried everything possible to ensure he entered the race fit, but in the end withdrawing was the only viable option.

In a statement, Ewan said: “I am very disappointed that I am not able to take the start of my main goal of the spring season. I was in good form and ready for a hard race, but like many other riders at the moment, I faced a stomach flu at the worst time. 

"Together with the team we had to decide that it is better to now focus on different goals.”

Ewan has already won three stage races this season, and finished second at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, but came into this week having abandoned Tirreno-Adriatico early. He placed full attention on winning Milan-San Remo this spring, but unfortunately for the 27-year-old, he will have to wait another year to achieve that goal. 

Prior to his withdrawal, Ewan expressed how confident he felt heading into the race, before highlighting his main rivals for the top step of the podium. 

He said: “From the beginning of this season, I have targeted Milan-San Remo as my main goal for this spring. The team has shown great confidence in my abilities to win this race. Let’s hope the race unfolds the way we want it to. It still is Milan-San Remo: lots of unforeseen things can happen. For me, that is also the beauty of the race.

“For me, [Tadej] Pogačar is the big favourite. Even if he does not win, he will have a big impact on how the race will play out. The same goes for Wout van Aert. Just look at those names: a multiple Grand Tour winner, a Classics’ winner and me, a sprinter, and we all have a possibility to win this race. That is why Milan-San Remo is my favourite Classic."

The Australian joins a host of other riders missing the Monument on Saturday, after more than half of the peloton abandoned Paris-Nice over the course of eight days due to sickness. Among them is reigning Milan-San Remo champion Jasper Stuyven, who is unable to defend his title at the weekend.

Meanwhile, world champion Julian Alaphilippe withdrew from the race earlier this week after coming down with a case of bronchitis, which is also affecting Paris-Roubaix winner Sonny Colbrelli. 

After his goal of winning a stage at each Grand Tour in 2021 unravelled in the final few hundred metres of stage three of the Tour de France, Caleb Ewan is already looking toward the Vuelta a España, plotting his recovery from the first bone he has ever broken.

The Australian crashed hard, having touched wheels with stage winner Tim Merlier after the final bend in the sprint finish, Peter Sagan also tumbling to the ground.

"I don't remember too much, it all happened quite quickly," Caleb Ewan told Velon after being diagnosed with a fractured collarbone at the hospital. 

"All I remember is I wanted to go quite early in the chicane. We were sprinting on the left and I started and saw the guys on the front were closing to the right so I had to stop sprinting and then hope for it to open up again. But I think when all that happened I came close to Peter and then we were quite close together on the wheel and when Merlier went again to the right I touched the wheel and went down."

A visibly shaken Ewan says he knew it was bad straight away, and could immediately feel the pain from his broken collarbone.

>>> 'We cannot continue like this': Riders and team bosses give their verdict on crash-fuelled start to Tour de France 2021

"Usually, when you crash at first you don't feel so much, the adrenaline is there. But straight away I felt a lot of pain and they were pressing on my collarbone and I felt it clicking, so yeah, not good."

Although it's the first-ever bone the 26-year-old has broken, he's already looking towards his return to racing, confident he has enough time before the Vuelta a España next month.

"It's the first bone I've ever broken, but they told me it's broken in four spots. I don't know too much of the details. I have to get some surgery on it to get it back in place. Of any bone to break it's one of the good ones to come back from, recovery-wise," he explained.

"This is part of cycling, unfortunately. I have to let it heal. And when I can train again I'll talk with the team and see which races suit me best.

"There are still seven weeks until the Vuelta so that should be enough time to let it heal and then train. Hopefully, that'll still be a goal of mine this year."

Caleb Ewan has been confirmed as out of the 2021 Tour de France by his Lotto-Soudal team after crashing in the final straight of stage three on Monday.

The Australian has suffered a fractured collarbone according to his team, who will give a further update after he has been properly assessed. 

>>> 'We cannot continue like this': Riders and team bosses give their verdict on crash-fuelled start to Tour de France 2021

It is still unclear exactly how Ewan came down, but he was following in eventual winner Tim Merlier's (Alpecin-Fenix) wheel as he began to stand up to sprint, when he veered to his left and crashed into Slovakian champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), with both riders hitting the deck.

The crash forced a number of the other sprinters wide and allowed Merlier to sprint to an easy win, his first in the Tour de France. His team-mate Jasper Philipsen was able to hold on to take second place, with Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic), claiming third.

Sagan was able to get up from the crash and remount his bike to finish the stage, but Ewan looked immediately hurt, staying on the ground as he was attended to by race officials and team-mates. 

It's a huge blow to his team, which is almost entirely built around helping him to stage victories and getting in breakaways. The Belgian squad will now look to the experience of Thomas De Gendt and Philippe Gilbert to deliver them a win from the breakaway deeper into the race.

It will also be a massive disappointment for Ewan, who was aiming to take a stage win in each Grand Tour of 2021. The 26-year-old began that mission perfectly with two stage wins in the Giro d'Italia in May, and looked in strong form heading into the Tour after two victories in the Belgium Tour earlier in June.

Stage three of the Tour was marred by crashes; not only did Ewan hit the deck, but GC contenders Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) both suffered injuries after crashes on the stage.

Caleb Ewan shows his versatility once again

Caleb Ewan had already achieved his goal for the 2021 Giro d’Italia before the start of stage seven, having won stage five with a remarkable sprint effort.

The Australian powerhouse has set himself the ambitious goal of winning a stage of all three Grand Tours in a single season, a feat only achieved by three riders in history, and already has his Giro stage ticked off.

But as Ewan admitted after that win, he always wants more, and with his confidence sky-high he was the favourite heading into this next sprint opportunity, even with the uphill gradients in the final. 

Ewan has consistently shown his versatility in sprints, winning from a multitude of positions on varied terrain (including the brutal uphill Hatta Dam finish in the UAE Tour), and the finish into Termoli was another addition.

As Fernando Gaviria fired an early attack to try and sneak victory away from his sprinting rivals, Ewan was left isolated at the front of the bunch but wasn’t afraid to set off in pursuit alone.

Despite the uphill to the line, Ewan single-handedly closed down Gaviria’s attack and fired past to take his second win of the race. 

The next question for Ewan is how long will he stay in the race.  

Admirable long range attack from Gaviria fails to catch Ewan off guard   

Respect has to go to Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) after his sprint on stage seven. 

The Colombian has been struggling to deliver from the conventional sprints so far this Giro, with his best finish being fifth place on stage five, so instead opted for a new tactic in Termoli.

Gaviria kicked clear of the bunch 500m out, a long way for a pure sprinter, in the hopes he could catch his rivals off guard on the uphill gradient to the line.

After pulling out a considerable gap, it looked like a 50-50 opportunity for Gaviria, with Ewan hot on his heels in pursuit.

The jump was 100m too early for Gaviria, who slipped back to sixth at the line, as the attack showed he doesn’t have confidence in his pure power.  

But the effort showed he’s not afraid to shake up the sprints in the hopes of adding to his tally of five Giro stage wins. 

With more opportunities on the horizon, Gaviria may take confidence from the ambitious, if doomed, move.  

Merlier sprints to podium even after ‘case of the Tom Dumoulins’ 

Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) has proved himself amongst some of the fastest sprinters in cycling already in this Giro, winning at his first opportunity on stage two during his maiden Grand Tour. 

But things very nearly went south for the Belgian sprinter on the roads to Termoli, as he was forced to duck out of the peloton as the pace ramped up.

According to reports Merlier stopped at the side of the road for “a case of the Tom Dumoulins” as it was described by GCN commentator Rob Hatch - a subtle euphemism for an unexpected bathroom break, named after Dumoulin was forced to drop his shorts on the way to the Stelvio during the 2017 Giro. 

While that could have been game over for Merlier, the determined rider hopped back on his bike and rejoined his team-mates, miraculously sprinting to a third-place finish, presumably in a rush to change clothes...

Maglia ciclamino race still wide open 

Ewan’s double victory in this year’s Giro opens up a fascinating question for his rivals in the form of the maglia ciclamino points classification.

Unsurprisingly, Ewan went straight to the top of the leaderboard with his second victory, now with 106 points, knocking Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos) off the top spot.

But Ewan has admitted he has no intention of finishing this year’s Giro, as he plans to pull out of the race early to turn his attention to his next goal, the Tour de France.

This means the points classification is still wide open.

After his victory on the opening road stage,Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) is second in the competition on 83 points, putting him next in line to take over the jersey when Ewan leaves the race. 

Giacomo Nizzolo, a double winner of the maglia ciclamino in past years, finished outside the top 10 on stage seven and so missed out on valuable points, knocking him down in to third, but still within reach of Merlier on 76. 

But it’s impossible to discount Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), winner of seven Tour de France green jerseys, who has slipped down into fifth on 57 points.

Sagan is the best of his generation at riding consistently through a Grand Tour to score points and has the versatility to hit the podium on varied terrain, making him a threat as the race heads towards Milan. 

Each of these riders will be eyeing Ewan’s jersey when he finally decides to call it quits.   

Another tame day in Italy, this time without the miserable weather 

So far the Giro d’Italia 2021 will be best remembered for its unmemorable stages.

The race has covered some serious distance since we departed from Turin last Saturday, with the first seven stages averaging 179km in length, with more than 1,000km covered in the first week.

Combined with the miserable weather conditions riders have had to face most days, it’s not really a surprised the peloton is taking its recovery where it can, and stage seven was another one of those days.

Following the first mountain finish of the race on stage six, the GC teams were happy to cruise along the Adriatic coast to Termoli, with the sprint teams controlling the pace and just doing enough to keep the breakaway within reach, not expending any unnecessary effort. 

>>> Julian Alaphilippe rules himself out of selection for Tokyo Olympics 

While the Giro is always back-loaded with intense climbing stages, there won’t be much time to relax in the next few stages, with stage eight suiting the breakaway or the puncheurs, ending with a sharp 3km climb to the finish.

Stage nine is likely to be where the real fireworks return however, as the peloton faces a tough climbing day, ending with a first category climb with a gravel finish.

Then after a likely sprint finish on stage 10 into Foligno, stage 11 marks one of the major spectacles of this year’s race - the infamous white roads of Tuscany. 

While stage seven may not have provided the thrills of stage six, we won’t have to wait long before the race explodes into life once again. 

Ewan as quick as ever to claim stage victory   

Any doubts about Caleb Ewan’s form were categorically put to rest after a devastatingly fast sprint saw him win stage five.

On stage two he was caught well out of position, and on the following day he was dropped out of contention on the climbs, but despite these problems there’s clearly nothing wrong with his finishing kick. 

What was most impressive about his win today was how he recovered from coming into contact with Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix). While the clash was enough to end Merlier’s chances, Ewan not only managed to keep his balance, but also get back up to speed to in succession fly past Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Elia Viviani (Cofidis) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka Assos).

The difference in speed between Ewan and the others was extraordinary, and suggests there could be more wins to come at this Giro d'Italia if he can again get into a position to sprint. 

But whatever happens from now, it’s mission accomplished for Ewan, who’s aim this year is to win at least one stage in all three of the Grand Tours. 

Landa crashes out 

A largely uneventful stage burst into life in the worst possible way as crashes blighted the finale, with Mikel Landa being the most high-profile victim.

A piece of road furniture about 5km from the end brought a premature end to what was shaping up to be a very exciting race for the Spaniard.

Landa looked both in great form and eager to make an early impression at yesterday’s stage, where his attack sparked the action among the GC favourites on the final climb, and he gained time over all but four of his GC rivals. 

The signs were that Landa (who has promised so much since finishing third at the 2015 Giro, but has yet to make a Grand Tour podium since) had one of the best opportunities of his career to win a Grand Tour, especially with a strong and committed Bahrain-Victorious team all-in to support.

But as four of the team’s riders who had dropped back to help him reached the finish, they were without Landa, who abandoned the race and had been taken to hospital via an ambulance to treat what was said by his DS to be either a damaged wrist or shoulder. 

The team at least has Damiano Caruso and Pello Bilbao to fall back on for a GC challenge, but for Landa this was yet another bitterly disappointing end to a Grand Tour.  

Nizzolo the eternal bridesmaid 

What does Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos) have to do to win a Giro d’Italia stage?

The Italian narrowly missed out on crossing the line first as Caleb Ewan stormed past him with just metres to go, having also finished second in the previous bunch sprint of the race on stage two.  

This is hardly a new situation Nizzolo finds himself in. Extraordinarily, he’s now finished runner-up at Giro d’Italia stages on eleven different occasions, and on the podium another five occasions, without yet ever having won a stage.

His runner-up spot today and the twelfth-place finish of Tim Merlier does at least put him in the lead of the points classification, but there’s an irony in the fact that he remains incapable of winning a stage despite centring all his efforts in trying to do so, while inadvertently leading a classification he isn't even really trying to win — he did not even bother going for points at the intermediate sprint on stage two.

His ongoing struggles to win a stage could become one of the subplots of this Giro, and no doubt the whole of Italy will be willing him to at last achieve what he’s now spent years trying for.  

Blow for Ineos Grenadiers as Sivakov out of GC contention   

As well as Landa, yesterday’s stage winner and current King of the Mountains leader Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates) also came down in crashes during the finale.

Unlike Landa, both were able to finish, but did so battered and bruised having lost whole heaps of time on GC. 

This was especially bad news for Ineos Grenadiers, who had hoped Sivakov would remain high up on GC in order to provide a viable plan-b option should anything happen to Egan Bernal. 

Given his form at the Tour of the Alps, where he finished second on the queen stage and sixth overall, a high overall placing here looked on the cards, but there’s no chance of that any more now that he’s lost over thirteen minutes. 

The 23-year-old had similar misfortune during his last Grand Tour appearance at the Tour de France last year, where he crashed hard and lost over ten minutes on the very first stage, but still dug deep to battle on all the way to Paris. 

The best he and Ineos Grenadiers can hope for now is that he can recover from whatever injuries he sustained (the TV cameras revealed a cut on his right arm) and provide support as a domestique in the mountains.  

A quiet intermission between GC battles 

It’s fair to say that stage five was, apart from the finishing sprint itself and the unwanted drama of crashes, a bit of a bore. The wind didn’t blow enough to become a factor, and the absence of any climbs meant there wasn’t the same intriguing battle between the breakaway and the peloton, and between the pure sprinters and Peter Sagan’s Bora-Hansgrohe, that characterised the stage won by Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) a couple of days ago.

But now that’s out the way, tomorrow we can enjoy a renewal of the GC battle that burst into life yesterday with the race’s first proper mountain top finish. 

If yesterday’s climb to Sestola is anything to go by, then four GC contenders are currently stronger than the rest: Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo), Alexander Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech), Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo). 

But as the first and so far only uphill finish of the race, it’s far too early to draw many conclusions from that, especially given how short the climb was, and the unusually cold and wet weather. 

>>> Giro d’Italia 2021: Caleb Ewan says stage win a relief as he targets victory in all three Grand Tours in a single season 

Stage six's climb of San Giacomo should give us a better indication. At 15km long, it is the first lengthy climbing test of the Giro, and therefore more emblematic of the kind of climbs that will ultimately decide the fate of the pink jersey. If the hierarchy that formed at Sestola forms again and the same riders who came out on top there again go well here, we can really start to talk about them as potential winners of this race. 

One thing is for sure: there will be far more action and excitement than stage five...we promise.  

Caleb Ewan says his Giro d’Italia 2021 stage victory comes as a relief, as he targets victory in all three Grand Tours in a single season.

The Australian sprinter announced the ambitious goal before the start of the 2021 cycling calendar, hoping to become only the fourth rider in history to win a stage of the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España in a single year.  

After missing out on an opportunity on stage two of this year’s Giro, the Lotto-Soudal rider delivered on stage five with a characteristically remarkable sprint. 

Speaking after the stage, Ewan said: “It was a relief because my goal this year is to win in all three [Grand Tours].

“The first sprint didn’t go well so there was a lot of pressure on me and the team to do a good job today. [The team] outperformed themselves today, without them I couldn’t have been so fresh in the finish. We had good lines through all the corners in the last 20km and I think I just showed I had the best legs in the final.” 

After leading the bunch into the final kilometres, Lotto-Soudal dropped back on the final straight with Ewan forced to navigate from a long way back to launch his sprint.

Ewan was able to avoid an incident with Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) and launched his sprint late to pass Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos) inside the final 50m. 

With one of three Grand Tour victories ticked off, Ewan said he plans to chase more victories in the Giro before turning his attention to the next target, the Tour de France.

>>> Mikel Landa crashes out of the Giro d'Italia 2021 

He said: “The goal to start with was one, so I've done that. 

“You know me, I'm pretty hungry to win as much as I can so this is good confidence for the team and myself going forward into the next few sprints as well.”  

Caleb Ewan fired from behind to win stage five of the Giro d'Italia 2021 from a bunch sprint.

The Australian (Lotto-Soudal) was perfectly positioned inside the final kilometre, but dropped back on the final straight and had to surge from a long way back to deny Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos) right at the line.  

After a quiet day of racing, there were some major crashes in the final that took out a number of general classification contenders, with Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) both falling hard, with the latter unable to finish the stage and pulling out of the race. 

Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-Up Nation) finished in the bunch to lead the race for another day. 

How it happened

Stage five of the 2021 Giro d’Italia looked like a slow day of racing on paper, as the peloton took on a pan-flat 177km from Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region to Cattolica on the Adriatic coast. 

With no categorised climbs along the route, a motorway bridge being the highest point on the stage, it looked like a certain opportunity for the sprinters, who would be determined to secure the chance after missing out to the breakaway on stage three.

While the course was arrow-straight for the most part, there was no shortage of hazards in the final 5km, with a series of 90-degree turns, before the final sharp right-hand turn just inside the final kilometre.

Early in the stage, only two riders were willing to commit to the breakaway, with Filippo Tagliani (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Umberto Marengo (Bardiani-CSF-Faizinè) attacking from the flag and immediately pulling out a gap.

The Italian pair dangled off the front of the peloton until the intermediate sprint point just over 100km from the finish, before they sat up and rejoined the main group of riders.

There were no more moves from the bunch until 46km left to race, when Simon Pellaud (Androni) and Davide Gabburo (Bardiani) launched a move and went clear, enjoying a modest margin. 

With just over 20km to the line, Agr2-Citroen’s Alexis Gougeard tried his luck and attacked from the bunch, bridging across to the late breakaway duo.

But inside 18km the escapees had just 10 seconds on the peloton, as all the sprint teams got into formation to chase down the move. 

The string of roundabouts and sharp turns were already causing chaos in the bunch, with Tejay Van Garderen (EF Education-Nippo) taking a fall and other riders forced to take evasive action to avoid the road furniture. 

GC riders weren’t safe from the dangers either, as Ineos Grenadiers co-leader Pavel Sivakov was pushed wide on a long straight road, forcing him into a tree and falling hard.

The Russian was able to swap bikes and remount, but looked to be in some pain and wasn’t able to chase the peloton with any conviction, knocking him out of the GC race. 

As the race entered Cattolica with 5km left to race, the breakaway trio still had 12 seconds over the bunch, as the twists and turns favoured the smaller group, but the peloton was motivated behind. 

Another huge crash came inside the bunch, as three riders hit a traffic island at high speed, with Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) among those going down, as the Spaniard stayed down and looked injured.

At 3km the break was caught with Lotto-Soudal leading through the turns, Ewan in second wheel, with Bora-Hansgrohe and Peter Sagan next in line. 

Hitting the final turn of the day, Bora led with Sagan, Merlier and Ewan all positioned at the front of the bunch. 

Inside the final 200m, Cofidis rushed forward for Viviani, who was the first to launch his sprint on the slight uphill gradient.

But Nizzolo hit the wind and looked to have run away with the victory.

>>> Giro d'Italia 2021 standings: The latest results from the 104th edition 

Ewan was caught behind Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) who appeared to have a mechanical problem, with Ewan being pushed into the barrier.

Unphased by the moment Ewan launched his sprint from a long way back, cutting across the road to move to the outside and blasting past the slowing Nizzolo in the final 50m to take the win. 

The race continues with the first mountain finish of the 2021 Giro,160km to 15km Ascoli Piceno climb. 

Giro d'Italia 2021, stage five: Modena to Cattolica (177km) 

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, in 4-07-01
2. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Qhubeka-Assos
3. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
4. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
5. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates
6. Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
7. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
8. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
9. Manuel Belletti (Ita) EOLO-Kometa
10. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation, all at same time

General classification after stage five 

1. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation, 17-57-45
2. Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix, at 42s
3. Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar, at 48s
4. Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ, at 1-00
5. Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, at 1-15
6. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana, at 1-24
7. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 1-28
8. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-Nippo, at 1-37
9. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at 1-38
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-39 

Merlier wins on his first ever Grand Tour road stage

Despite coming up against a sprinters’ field that includes many veterans of multiple stage wins, it was a Grand Tour rookie who took the spoils.

Tim Merlier has impressed all season for Alpecin-Fenix, shining in the flatter spring Classics to win three races already this season — a total which is, incidentally, as many as his much more famous team-mate Mathieu van der Poel has this spring.

But this was new territory for the 28-year-old Belgian, who has never before ridden a Grand Tour, and therefore lacks experience in the kind of hectic, tense and highly competitive sprints you get at this level, of which today’s messy finish was a quintessential example.

Despite the new and difficult circumstances, Merlier passed the test with flying colours, outpacing Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-Assos), Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) and Elia Viviani (Cofidis) to take victory. 

With this win in the bag he’s proven himself to be an elite sprinter, and is likely to be in the mix in the sprints to come. 

Groenewegen in the mix on his return to racing

There were big question marks heading into the race concerning whether Dylan Groenewegen would be able to immediately compete for stage wins after such a long break from racing after his nine-month ban, especially considering how late the decision was for him to ride the Giro.

On his stage two showing, it appears he’s certainly ready. The Dutchman managed to latch onto Giacomo Nizzolo’s wheel in the sprint, and although he wasn’t quite able to come around the Italian, he still had the strength to resist the challenge from those behind him to seal third-place.

Some thought that Jumbo-Visma may choose to back David Dekker in the sprints rather than Groenewegen, after Dekker impressed earlier this at the UAE Tour. But Groenewegen insisted at the start of the day that he was designated sprinter, and indeed Dekker was one of several riders (including yesterday’s runner-up Edoardo Affini in the purple jersey) helping protect him at the front of the bunch as the finale approached.  

We’re used to seeing Groenewegen put in a quicker finishing kick than this in the past, but he will certainly take heart after what has been such a long time out of racing. If he can keep improving and blow off the cobwebs, a stage win later down the line is certainly on the cards. 

Gaviria nearly felled by his own teammate

Although the opening road stage thankfully passed mostly without any crashes, with Davide Gabburo (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) the day’s only victim of a crash, Fernando Gaviria only narrowly avoided going down in the finale after nearly colliding with his own lead-out man Juan Sebastian Molano. 

After being distanced from his lead-out to the sprint, Molano ended up inadvertently getting in the way of Gaviria as the Colombian attempted to go around him through a narrow gap by the barrier, and became unbalanced as he attempted to squeeze through. 

While it certainly could have been worse had he not kept his balance, Gaviria will rue not being able to produce a sprint.

Pre-stage favourite Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) will also be disappointed having slipped down the peloton during the lead-out and therefore failing to launch a sprint.

Elia Viviani (Cofidis) will also have hoped to have done better, especially after his Cofidis teammates did such a great lead-out for him, leading the peloton as it negotiated the final tricky bends in the road. The Italian simply didn’t have the legs to match the accelerations of Merlier, Nizzolo and Groenewegen when they started their sprints, and has to settle for fourth. 

But Nizzolo will probably be happy with his legs after sprinting for second, even if his long, frustrating run without winning a Giro d’Italia stage continues. 

Confusion at the intermediate sprint 

Prior to the bunch finish, the first intermediate sprint of the Giro ended in embarrassment for the four sprinters who contested it as they mistook which mark they were meant to be sprinting for. 

Elia Viviani, Fernando Gaviria, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Andrea Pasquelon (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) all moved to the front of the bunch as the sprint approached, with Viviani appearing to win to take maximum points. 

But it turned out that they had mistaken the 40km to go banner for the sprint line, which was a few meters further up the road. 

Once realising this, Gaviria rolled through ahead of Viviani to take the eight points available (after the leading breakaway duo had gained the maximum points).  

Despite the mistake, the quartet all at least managed to register points in the points classification, and by going for the sprint signalled their intent to compete for the maglia ciclamino.  

Notably absent from the sprint were Caleb Ewan, Tim Merlier, Dylan Groenewegen and Giacomo Nizzolo, all of whom decided to save their energy for the sprint at the end of the stage.  

That’s not surprising from Ewan (who may not be planning on making it all the way to Milan, given how he intends to ride all three Grand Tours this season), Merlier (who might find challenging for that competition difficult given he’s a Grand Tour debutant) and Groenewegen (who’s coming back from such a long time off from racing). 

But you might have expected Nizzolo to compete for it, given he’s twice won the maglia ciclamino in his career. Clearly his priority is to finally win what would be a long-awaited first ever Giro d’Italia stage win.  

Credit to the breakaway trio on an uneventful opening road stage

On stages like this, where not a lot happens for most of the day and the vast majority of the bunch enjoy an easy day in the saddle, credit to the riders who commit to going out on the attack and getting into the breakaway.

Stage two, three riders put their nose to the wind, all three of them from the wildcard Italian teams: Umberto Marengo from Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, Filippo Tagliani from Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec and Vincenzo Albanese from EOLO-Kometa. 

These riders are the unsung heroes of Grand Tours, who are obliged to commit to breakaways which have virtually no chance of succeeding in service of their teams, acting as human billboards for their sponsors as the TV cameras follow their progress throughout the day.  

If you find yourself with a sudden inexplicable urge to buy some Androni Giocattoli toys for your kids, switch your internet service provider to Eolo, or invest in some Bardiani hygienic valves, then they’ll have done their job.  

>>> Giro d'Italia 2021 standings: The latest results from the 104th edition 

Of the three riders, Albanese will be most rewarded for his efforts, after he won the sprint on the day’s only climb to take the lead in the mountains classification.

 He was in no rush to join the other two after later being struck by a mechanical, and returned to the peloton, but by winning that sprint he’ll wear the maglia azzurra on stage three — a significant achievement for both him and his team. 

The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2021 is set to take place on April 14 after it was postponed earlier in the year due to Covid-19.

Among the big names starting at the Volta a Valenciana are Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Enric Mas (Movistar).

The five-stage race kicks off on Wednesday (April 14) with a mix of testing lumpy stages, flat sprint opportunities, a summit finish and an individual time trial on stage four.

Last year’s edition was won by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), with Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) rounding out the podium.

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This year's line-up does not see Pogačar or even his team return to race in 2021 along with various other top teams. This has meant that some smaller teams have been able to field up to nine riders. Just four WorldTour teams are in attendance.

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2021 start list

Movistar Team

MAS Enric

ERVITI Imanol

ROJAS José Joaquín

ALBA Juan Diego

MORA Sebastián

GONZÁLEZ Abner

OLIVEIRA Nelson

Groupama-FDJ

DÉMARE Arnaud

KÜNG Stefan

BALMER Alexandre

SINKELDAM Ramon

GUARNIERI Jacopo

RAUGEL Antoine

SCOTSON Miles

Cofidis

HERRADA José

CONSONNI Simone

SAJNOK Szymon

VIVIANI Attilio

BERHANE Natnael

CARVALHO Andre

ROCHAS Rémy

Lotto-Soudal

EWAN Caleb

DEGENKOLB John

DE BUYST Jasper

HOLMES Matt

CONCA Filippo

THIJSSEN Gerben

EvoPro Racing

RHIM Brendan

NOLAN Seán

MONK Cyrus

BROWN Jonny

WALSH Ben

SCHIZZI Vitor Zucco

NISU Oskar

EYSKENS Jeroen

Mg.K Vis VPM

DOUBLE Paul

WRIGHT Paul

DRAGHI Guido

RADICE Raffaele

SALVIETTI Niccolò

CAROLLO Francesco

DI FELICE Francesco

Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-Wallonie Bruxelles

DUPONT Timothy

VANENDERT Jelle

PAASSCHENS Mathijs

VANDEPITTE Nathan

HUYS Laurens

PEYSKENS Dimitri

MERTS Rémy

MEENS Johan

REX Laurenz

B&B Hotels p/b KTM

BAGIOLI Nicola

LIETAER Eliot

VAN GENECHTEN Jonas

HIVERT Jonathan

BONNAMOUR Franck

BOILEAU Alan

CAM Maxime

FERRASSE Thibault

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

LASTA Jonathan

ABERASTURI Jon

AULAR Orluis

IRISARRI Jon

LAZKANO Oier

CEPEDA Jefferson Alveiro

OSORIO Alejandro

Arkéa-Samsic

GESBERT Élie

LOUVEL Matis

WELTEN Bram

ROSA Diego

LEDANOIS Kévin

GUERNALEC Thibault

RIOU Alan

Burgos-BH

NAVARRO Daniel

ÁVILA Edwin

OSORIO Juan Felipe

MOLENAAR Alex

EZQUERRA Daniel

ORTS Felipe

MADRAZO Ángel

APARICIO Matio

FUENTEZ Ángel

Euskaltel-Euskadi

BIZKARRA Mikel

MATÉ Luis Ángel

ARISTI Mikel

BOU Joan

AZPARREN Xabier Mikel

ANGULO Antonio

CUADRADO Unai

MARTÍN Gotzon

JUARISTI Txomin

Equipo Kern Pharma

GARCÍA PIERNA Carlos

RUIZ Ibon

LOPEZ Diego

LÓPEZ Jordi

MENDEZ Daniel Alejandro

NOVIKOV Savva

JAIME Álex

MORENO Ivan

ARAIZ Sergio

Rally Cycling

BASSETT Stephen

JOYCE Colin

SHEFFIELD Magnus

ROSSKOPF Joey

CARPENTER Robin

BROWN Nathan

Tarteletto-Isorex

WOUTERS Enzo

SEFA Yiber

MARCHAND Gianni

TEUGELS Lennert

D'HEYGERE Gil

DE POORTER Maxime

VAN DE KERKHOVE Brent

DE DECKER Alfdan

VAN DEN BRANDE Julien

Caleb Ewan has revealed he practiced following attacks on the Poggio “many times” before Milan-San Remo 2021.

The Lotto-Soudal sprinter was hugely impressive in the final of the Italian Monument, holding position at the front of the peloton on the final climb and fending off attacks from Julian Alaphilippe and Wout van Aert. 

Despite making it into the sizeable group that went to the line, Ewan was forced to settle for a podium finish as Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) powered clear with an attack 2km from the line. 

Speaking after the stage, the 26-year-old Australian said: “I knew coming into the race I was in good form, like most years I target this race and this year I've really tried to improve my climbing and I’ve even practiced that exact attack on the Poggio many times before this race, and that’s why I knew that in the end I should be able to follow the attacks. 

“I was in a good position for most of the Poggio and then when they went I was suffering a bit, but I had enough left to follow them and I was actually quite comfortable.” 

On paper, Ewan was the fastest man in the 17-rider group that finished together on the famous Via Roma, with Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) also making the selection. 

But as Stuyven powered his way to the line, the chasers were unable to work together as no rider wanted to compromise his chances in a sprint if Stuyven was caught.

Ewan said: “It would have been nice to have one [team-mate] there to keep it together because I know that if that group’s together I’m usually the fastest guy there.

“It’s always a lottery in that situation because there’s  always going to be attacks and you have to just wait, because I can’t go to the front and bring every attack back. 

“I have to take the risk and I did what I had to do to win, in the end we waited too long.”

Despite finishing second, Ewan said the result was a disappointment, as it was the second time in his career he has narrowly missed out on the win, finishing behind Vincenzo Nibali in 2018. 

>>> Wout van Aert says he didn’t want to waste his chance in the sprint by chasing Stuyven in Milan-San Remo 2021

He said: “The first time I was second it was a really good result, that confirmed I could potentially win the race one day.

“I’m pretty disappointed this time.” 

Caleb Ewan won the stage seven bunch sprint to ensure he didn't leave the UAE Tour without a victory.

The Lotto-Soudal rider tacked on to Sam Bennett's (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) wheel into the slight headwind at Abu Dhabi Breakwater to deny the Irishman a third stage win in the Middle East, with Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) finishing third.

André Greipel managed sixth place, having been delivered to the front by Israel Start-Up Nation and opening his sprint early, the 38-year-old reminding everyone of his pedigree, while Cees Bol was only able to manage one place better, having received a competent lead out from Team DSM.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) was untroubled as he secured the overall victory, 35 seconds ahead of Adam Yates, the Ineos Grenadier suffering a nasty fall in the final 45km and requiring medical attention, but able to make it to the finish.

"I don't know if it helped, we came here to win a stage and there was only one more left," Ewan said after the finish. "There was a bit of pressure to have a good result. I haven't been this far into the year without a win in my whole career, so it felt good."

How it happened

A flat stage to sign off the opening WorldTour race of the calendar, and despite Tadej Pogačar being docked time for a push in the finale of stage six, his 35 second lead over Adam Yates looked insurmountable barring any disasters.

The first bit of action of the day involved David Dekker (Jumbo-Visma) scooping up the solitary bonus point left behind at the intermediate sprint by the three breakaway riders with 100km remaining, the trio up front consisting of Samuele Battistella, Matteo Sorbero (both Astana - Premier Tech) and Alexys Brunel (Groupama-FDJ). The Dutchman extending his lead over Pogačar in the points classification at his debut WorldTour race.

40km later and Ineos Grenadiers hit the front to try and put the squeeze on Pogačar, the peloton cracking apart in the desert winds. The move failed to dislodge the Slovenian, or Caleb Ewan and Sam Bennett, both in the hunt for the stage victory, but third-place João Almeida and Dekker were caught out. These accelerations swept up the breakaway and the bunch also soon came back together.

The only notable GC drama of the day was when Yates hit the deck with 40km remaining, an innocuous-looking crash as a couple of Ineos Grenadiers lost balance and collided with their new team-mate, sending him face-first into the tarmac.

Bloodied, Yates got back up and after medical attention from both his support staff and the medic's car, he was fine to continue, the peloton waiting up for the Brit.

This incident knocked both the pace and intent out of the bunch for a while, however, and Ineos Grenadiers hit the front inside the final 10km to shepherd Yates safely inside the last 3km to guarantee his runner-up spot in this first race for his new team.

Deceuninck - Quick-Step duly took over at the front, looking to guide Sam Bennett to what would be an impressive third sprint win in the UAE. As the sprint trains jostled for position, Caleb Ewan was delivered to the front by Lotto-Soudal, only for the wave of sprinters to come back over the top. The Australian then got himself onto Bennett's wheel as the Irishman surged past, guided as ever by Michael Mørkøv, before then finally getting the better of his Monaco neighbour, sailing past him into the slight headwind and pumping his fist in celebration, the relief of opening his account for 2021 plain to see.

Results

UAE Tour, stage seven: Yas Mall to Abu Dhabi Breakwater (147km)

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, in 3-18-29

2. Sam Bennett (Ire) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at same time

3. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious

4. Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

5. Cees Bol (Ned) DSM

6. André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation

7. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën

8. Luka Mezgec (Slo) BikeExchange

9. Riccardo Minali (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

10. Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana - Premier Tech, all at same time

Final general classification

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 24-00-28

2. Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 35 seconds

3. João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 1-02

4. Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma, at 1-42

5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo, at 1-45

6. Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Trek-Segafredo, at 2-37

7. Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, at 2-39

8. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 3-53

9. Rubén Fernández (Esp) Cofidis, at 4-13

10. Fausto Masnada (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 6-30

Caleb Ewan is looking to become only the fourth rider ever to win a stage at all three Grand Tours in a single year and has now announced his early season races that he will ride as a warm-up.

Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) announced that he would go for this record earlier in the year but has only now confirmed what races he will be attending as a build-up for his first Grand Tour hit out at the Giro d'Italia in May as he looks to be added to the list of Miguel Poblet (1956), Pierino Baffi (1958), and Alessandro Petacchi (2003), who all achieved the feat.

The Australian sprinter will start off his racing year at the UAE Tour where he will go up against some of the world's fastest riders like Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe).

After that he heads to Italy for Tirreno-Adriatico before starting a short Classics campaign at Milan-San Remo and then the 'sprinter's Classic' of Scheldeprijs before heading to the Giro.

You would imagine that riders like Eddy Merckx or Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) would have got this record, but they never managed it.

Ewan's ambition could be a new aim for the sprinters to battle over, as the time triallists have the Hour Record and the climbers have never-ending lists of records to chase, but the sprinters don't have many long-term challenges aside from Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) extending his green jersey record at the Tour.

Ewan currently has nine Grand Tour stage wins with five at the Tour, three at the Giro, and just the one at the Vuelta. He will be hoping that the Vuelta is a bit kinder than usual to the sprinters after the first stage of last year's race was a summit finish.

The likelihood of him beating the most wins in the record though is unlikely as Petacchi won a very impressive 15 stages over the three races around Italy, France, and Spain.

Caleb Ewan says if he was in Dylan Groenewegen's position it would be hard for him to rejoin the peloton.

The Jumbo-Visma sprinter is currently banned for the incident at the Tour of Poland where he caused Fabio Jakobsen to crash into the barriers during the sprint finish, leaving his compatriot in intensive care. Groenewegen's backdated ban means he will be able to return to racing from May 7 2021.

"The first thing I am going to say, when you decide to be a sprinter, you know sprinting is not the safest thing in the world. Every sprinter you see has accepted that. It doesn’t matter if you’re on a 10-lane road, sprinting is going to be dangerous," Ewan told the media before departing for a pre-season training camp.

"I think it will be hard for him to come back into the bunch, not because of other riders, but because of himself. Maybe he will be a little more nervous than he was before. He was dominant in the way he was sprinting. I don’t know Dylan so well, maybe he’s a guy it doesn’t affect him so much and it will be business as usual. Maybe he could be a very sensitive guy, and it will never be business as usual for him again. I really don’t know him that well to comment on that.

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The Lotto-Soudal star says that for him it would not be so easy to come back, especially after all the criticism Groenewegen has faced on social media.

"If it was me, it would be quite mentally hard to rejoin the bunch. You have seen on social media, you see a lot of negative stuff about him, that would also be hard."

With some space now between the hectic rescheduled 2020 season and the peloton, Ewan reflects that the blame for incidents such as the one caused by Groenewegen largely lies at the rider's door.

"Generally, the crashes are because of the riders, not because of the barriers. If you crash into the barriers it is usually because another rider has moved you into the barrier. I’m not scared of barriers. If anything, you’re scared of other riders moving in a way that you wouldn’t want them to. It’s been the same since I was a junior. There are always going to be riders who are going to come off their line. They’ve become a lot more strict on that the last few years about riders coming off their line.

"If you go down the barrier with a small gap, you know there is a risk if the rider comes off his line, you might end up in the barrier. All sprinters have taken that sprint in their careers. That’s just part of sprinting. If you crash into a barrier, it’s probably not going to be great."

As for Ewan's 2021, two more Tour stage wins last season haven't sated his appetite for victory, as he prepares to line up for all three Grand Tours. "My big goal for 2021 is to win stages in all three grand tours in one year. There haven’t been too many people who’ve done it in the history of cycling, so that’s my big goal," Ewan revealed.

"Sometimes it seems like a good idea at the beginning of the season, but after the Tour, the thought of riding the bike again can be a bit daunting. If I can get through the Giro and the Tour with wins, then I will seriously consider doing the Vuelta."

Not satisfied with aiming for three Grand Tour stages in a single season, the Australian also wants to challenge for the green jersey at the Tour de France after Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) broke Peter Sagan's (Bora-Hansgrohe) stranglehold on the points classification last year.

“If it’s there, it’s something I will look at. There are a lot of sprints in this year’s Tour, and it is something that I will think about," Ewan said. "I was waiting for a Tour with a lot of sprints when I won’t have to chase the intermediate sprints, and I can pick up points in the final sprints."

Caleb Ewan took the Scheldeprijs 2020 ahead of Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Niccolò Bonifazio (Total Direct Energie) in a very hectic finale that saw several riders crash, and eventually saw Ackermann disqualified for a dangerous sprint. That decision meant Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels - Vital Concept) took the third place position.

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Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) sprinted to a very convincing victory after a very calm day on the laps around the town of Schoten. The sprint was packed with big names though and a big crash brought down some fighting for the top placings after a sharp movement by Ackermann took the wheel of a rider just behind him out.

This is Ewan's first race win since his successes at the Tour de France. Behind him, other Tour riders didn't perform as well as they would've liked, with points jersey winner, Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), coming down in ninth.

How it happened

The race was based around a 173.3km course that was made up of a 17km circuit in Schoten as local lockdowns meant the race was not able to do its usual course heading into the Netherlands.

The day's break was made up of Mark Cavendish (Bahrain-McLaren), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Dmitriy Gruzdev (Astana), Michael Schär (CCC Team), Travis McCabe (Israel Start-Up Nation), Chris Juul-Jensen (Mitchelton-Scott), Tom Wirtgen (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles), and Piotr Havik (Riwal-Securitas).

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The route was very flat but it had the usual stressful course in Belgium with tight roads, road furniture, falling leaves and a very compact peloton with a packed field of potential winners.

The cameras largely fell on Cavendish as he was back on the bike despite his tearful interview where he said Ghent-Wevelgem may have been his last race.

But 'Cav' spent the day in the break but dropped back much earlier than the rest up front where he got plenty of congratulations from fans, motorbikes, and riders with him looking around asking for the camera to leave him alone.

Back in the peloton it was a group of teams working but UAE Team Emirates, Lotto-Soudal, Deceuninck - Quick-Step and Bora-Hansgrohe were doing most of the work for their main men.

The break was brought back with 19km to go apart from Havik who had kicked on, the Dutchman held on until 11km to go where Deceuninck - Quick-Step took full control of the race until 2km to go as Trek-Segafredo, Bora-Hansgrohe, Lotto-Soudal, and Alpecin-Fenix moved up to challenged the Belgian team.

Deceuninck - Quick-Step were then boxed out and it was Lotto-Soudal who lead the lead-out at the vital moment, allowing Ewan a clear sprint to the line, winning the race comfortably.

Ackermann was later disqualified for causing the crash moving Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept p/b KTM) up onto the podium.

Results

Scheldeprijs 2020: Schoten to Schoten (173.3km)

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, in 3-34-38

2. Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie

3. Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept p/b KTM

4. Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix

5. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates

6. Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise

7. Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Riwal Securitas

8. Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

9. Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation

10. Romain Cardis (Fra) Total Direct Energie, all at same time

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As a sprinter, all you want to do is win. But if you're beaten by your best mate, I guess it's not so bad.

Caleb Ewan and Sam Bennett shared the spoils of the post-rest day sprint stages between them, taking turns on the top and second steps of the podium.

For Bennett on stage 10, it was a career-defining moment, his first Tour de France stage victory after years of waiting in the wings. For Ewan, three years his junior, it was his fifth stage in two years. He has clearly become accustomed to the process, celebrating "just in case" he had crossed the line first without knowing the result.

Luckily, he had pulled it off, and for a second day in a row, he and Bennett fist-bumped to their sprinting dominance. So far, they have been able to share success and maintain a close friendship.

"We live in the same apartment block. We're very good friends, he's one of my best mates and we train a lot together. It's always hard because we both have the same goals and we both have a lot of pressure on us to win here, it's the biggest bike race in the world, and the sprints get very heated," Ewan said after the stage, by which time Peter Sagan had been relegated after shoving Wout van Aert.

>>> Tour de France 2020: ‘Sprinters are crazy guys fighting for places,’ says Primož Roglič after Peter Sagan relegated

"But we've done well so far, I think, to separate work and our friendship. And when he won yesterday I couldn't have been happier for him because everyone saw how much it meant and I've seen how hard he's worked for it, so I'm super happy for him."

However, that competitive nature still peeks through.

"On the other side, obviously I was disappointed for myself because I worked hard for it and I didn't win. It's always a hard one like that, but if someone's going to beat me then I'm happy it's him."

Bennett currently wears the green jersey, and after another day where he extended his lead over its usual custodian Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), the Irishman is a decent bet to still have it on his shoulders in Paris.

For Ewan, though, he's concentrated on adding to his stage wins for the time being, but may turn his focus to green in years to come.

"I just don't want to be too greedy, someone else can win it...I'm joking," a laid back Ewan told the press conference.

"I came to the Tour de France without the goal of the green jersey and I think if you wait until halfway through like we are now then it's too late because those guys have always been picking up points in the intermediate sprints. I think in a few years maybe I'll decide to go for the green jersey.

"Five stage wins in my first two years at the Tour de France is quite an achievement and maybe the green jersey is something I can look at in the future. For now, I don't have any regrets not going for it, it's an added stress...I already have a lot of pressure on me to win stages."

Ewan estimates he wants to be a pro for as many as five to ten more years, which would seem him riding in the peloton at 36 years old. If he manages to maintain a tally of three wins per edition of the Tour de France, that would see him overtake Eddy Merckx's stage win record. But Ewan is wiser than this conjecture and won't focus on numbers.

"There's not really a number of Tour de France stage wins I'd like to win, I'm already really happy with my five, but obviously I want more," he said.

"You can't put a number on it because I'm not sure how my form will be in the years to come but I want to continue winning as much as I can...I hope in the next five, ten years, however long I'm pro, I can always be competitive."

Ok, so what other wins are on his wish list?

"I'd like to win Milan - San Remo as well...," he said, pausing at either end of the sentence.

"...and a World Championship...

"...and maybe a Classic in Belgium...

"...yeah...that's about it."

Relegation plunges Sagan’s green jersey defence into doubt

There was drama even after the riders had crossed the line today, as Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) was relegated for dangerous sprinting.

Although he does not lose a stage win — he was edged into second at the line by winner Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) — he might just have lost any chance of winning the green jersey ahead of Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step). As a result of Bennett finishing third, and Sagan losing both the points he would have gained for finishing second at the finish as well as those he picked up at the intermediate sprint earlier in the day, the defending champion now finds himself a huge 68 points adrift from the Irishman.

It’s easy to see why the commissaires made the decision. In attempting to squeeze between the barriers and Wout van Aert, Sagan leaned into the Belgian, much to his indignation.

The Slovak is renowned for his extraordinary bike-handling skills, and so manoeuvres that might seem reckless to others he might interpret as safe, given his ability to stay upright. But the gap he was attempting to squeeze through was extremely narrow, and it’s hard to interpret his sprint as anything other than reckless.

Sagan has history in incurring the wrath of the commissaires, having been thrown off the race altogether in 2017 for causing a crash. That was the only appearance at the Tour de France that did not end in a points classification victory — might another relegation cost him once more? He has some serious work to do in the upcoming hilly stages if he’s to have any chance of defending his title.

Caleb Ewan claims a second stage victory

Caleb Ewan claimed his second stage of this year’s Tour de France, in what was a photographer’s dream of a finish.

Ewan, Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) all simultaneously lunged to the line side-by-side, forming an aesthetically-pleasing, colourful line in their respective red, green, yellow and white jerseys.

It was an image that reflected just how evenly matched the sprinters have been this year. With this victory Ewan joins Wout van Aert on two wins, and pulls ahead of Sam Bennett on one, while Alexander Kristoff’s (UAE Team Emirates) triumph on the opening day means the six bunch finishes have been shared around between four different riders.

However, if the pattern of last year’s Tour is anything to go by, this might be the moment when Ewan becomes the race’s dominant sprinter. That year, the Australian also won stage eleven, and from that point went unbeaten in the sprint finishes for the remainder of the race, with two more victories (in Nimes and on the Champs Élysées).

It’ll be a while until he gets another chance — stage nineteen seems to be the next, and only, opportunity before Paris — but the signs are that Ewan could be in for another haul.

Late attacks make for an unusual finish

A formulaic day in which little happened for most of the stage almost took an unusual twist inside the final six kilometres, when Lukas Pöstlberger made an attack.

It was a surprise move given his role as one of Sagan’s key-lead out men, but one that was, according to the Pöstlberger at the finish, pre-planned, as an attempt to make the finish “more difficult” for Deceuninck - Quick-step and the other sprinters’ teams.

The attack even looked like potentially being a race-winning one, when the Austrian was joined by two of Sam Bennett’s lead-out riders, Bob Jungels and Kasper Asgreen. As three powerful rouleurs, it was no easy task for the peloton to bring them back, and required committed efforts from the domestiques of Cofidis, Lotto-Soudal and NTT Pro Cycling to make the catch, 2.2km from the line.

Though the bunch sprint was back on, with so many of the usual lead-out men used up in this chase, it was a messy one. Wildcard team B&B Hotels-Vital Concept found themselves in the unusual position of leading out the sprint, for their leader Bryan Coquard, but didn’t have the fire-power to string out the bunch and control proceedings

Wout van Aert chose to make his move early by launching his sprint over 300 metres from the finish. It would have been an amazing win to maintain his efforts for such a long sprint, but instead had the effect of restoring some order to events, as he provided a lead-out that the other sprinters were able to use to sit in the slipstream of.

An early breakaway is shut down

Stage 11 continued one of the most striking trends of flat stages at the Tour this year — the lack of riders getting into breakaways at the start of stages.

Matthieu Ladagnous (Groupama-FDJ) followed in the footsteps of Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Energie) by spending most of the day out in front alone, attacking at the beginning with no-one accompanying him, and eventually being caught three hours later, 43km from the finish.

That was at least more activity than stage five, which did not feature a single breakaway.

This time, there was at least a committed effort from a handful of riders to get up the road. Shortly after Ladagnous had escaped up the road, a counter-attack of six riders went clear, featuring some pretty high calibre classics specialists like Oliver Naesen (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo).

The response from the peloton to this break might help explain why there has been so few attacks this year. Despite only being half a dozen riders big, Deceuninck - Quick-Step deemed it too big a threat to their hopes of the stage finishing in a bunch sprint, and immediately set about shutting it down.

When even a break like this, which featured no threats to the GC, is not allowed to go clear, is it any wonder that so few riders have been willing to try and get into breakaways this year?

A quiet stage, but with two abandonments

It might have been a largely innocuous day for most, but, for two riders, stage eleven was the end of the road.

It was clear something was up with Gregor Muhlberger early in the stage when the Bora-Hansgrohe rider was spotted hovering just off the back of the peloton. Despite the slow pace, Muhlberger appeared to be seriously struggling to stay in the group.

After continuing like this for several kilometres, the Austrian eventually stopped altogether, abandoning the race in considerable discomfort, with reports that illness was the reason.

Later, Jon Izagirre (Astana) was one of a few riders to go down in a crash. Though not caught by the TV cameras, it appeared to be a serious incident, as the Spaniard sat for a long time barely moving, and being tested for concussion.

He was taken to hospital, leaving Miguel Ángel López without one of his key domestiques for the upcoming mountains.

>>> Wout van Aert tried to speak to Peter Sagan after stage 10 ‘but the only thing that came back was strong words’

The fortunes of both these riders highlighted the challenges of a three-week race. Even on a day where most are able to rest and preserve energy, there is always the threat that a either illness or a sudden crash can abruptly see your whole race come to an end.

Caleb Ewan says sprinters never want to put each other "in harm's way" after he squeezed through gaps to take the stage three victory at the 2020 Tour de France.

The Australian floated back on the run-in after finding himself too far forward too early, then fighting his way back up through traffic to pip Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) on the line.

>>> Caleb Ewan fires from behind to take headwind sprint on stage three of Tour de France 2020

"I was too far forward with 1km to go so I knew I had to adjust my sprint a bit and go back in the wheels and take a bit of a risk and a chance that I could get out because sometimes you get boxed in or someone can separate in front of you," Ewan analysed after his win. "So it was a bit of a risk. I think I came around quite close to the barrier but luckily I got through and got a really good run at the line."

The Lotto-Soudal rider did indeed squeeze through a gap to the right of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) that only the diminutive Aussie could have fit through. The Slovakian didn't attempt to close the door, and in spite of recent high-profile sprint finish crashes, Ewan says no sprinter intends to put anyone in harm's way.

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"None of us sprinters want to put anyone in harm's way, I don't know if [Sagan] even knew I was there or not but I like to think if he knew I was there he wouldn't take the chance of putting me in the barriers," Ewan said.

"I think I came through quite quick on the inside so there was a risk that he wouldn't see me there and I'd be closed off but luckily he left just enough room for me to get through."

Ewan knows sprinters sign up for risks every time they line up at the start of a race, and his Lotto-Soudal team already lost two of their riders to crashes on the opening day, with Philippe Gilbert withdrawing and John Degenkolb finishing outside the time limit.

"It meant we had to adapt to the sprints and ride them a bit differently and then I just had to do the rest," Ewan said of being reduced to a squad of six.

"It was a pretty terrible start for the team, we came here to get the yellow jersey on the first stage. It was a big blow but I think now it's nice for the whole team that we have a win and everyone can relax a bit. And when there's a more relaxed atmosphere I think that's when you perform the best."

Alexander Kristoff has already hinted he may consider the possibility of challenging Peter Sagan for his green jersey, but is wary of committing to the task, as is Ewan.

"I'll see how close I am. I had to be up there in the first sprint which I wasn't. I obviously got points today but I've seen a lot of guys, especially at the intermediate, going for [the green jersey].

"At the moment I'm not really interested but maybe if I take a few more stage wins then maybe I'll get closer in the competition but for now my priority is for stage wins. Unless I get a lot of stage wins and get close to the green jersey I'm not going to go for it."

Caleb Ewan fired from a long way back and weaved his way to a headwind sprint victory on stage three of the Tour de France 2020.

The Australian sprinter was out of position and chasing Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) in the final 100 metres, but Ewan found an extra gear to kick from behind and weaved his way through the tightest gap to narrowly secure the victory.

Ewan's victory is the first for Lotto-Soudal in this Tour and will be a welcome result, as the Belgian WorldTour squad lost both John Degenkolb and Philippe Gilbert after the opening stage.

Bennett took a frustrating second place, with Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling) rounding out the podium.

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) finished safely in the bunch to hold onto his yellow jersey for another day.

How it happened

The third day of racing in the 2020 Tour de France route was slated as a stage for the sprinters, but it was far from the pan-flat parcours we’re used to from a Grand Tour sprint. 

Stage three was a long 198km day in the saddle from Nice to Sisteron, with four categorised climbs and more than 3,000 metres of climbing spread throughout the day.

The first two climbs came within rapid succession between the 45km to 64km marks, both third category with the Col du Pilon (8.4km at 5.1 per cent) first followed by the Col de la Faye (5.3km at 4.8 per cent). 

After a rolling middle section, the penultimate climb was the category three Col des Lèques (6.9km at 5.4 per cent) which marked the start of the long downhill 60km to the line.

But at 150km, the peloton still had to handle the category four Col de l’Orme, which is just 2.7km-long at five per cent. 

The final section featured a long gradual descent for 25km before the road very gently curved upwards in the final 10km, leading riders to a long, straight headwind drag for the line. 

With the sprint teams focused on the finish and the general classification teams trying to stay out of trouble, there was very little interest in a breakaway but three riders did make their escape from the peloton to set up a long day in the saddle.  

Mountains classification leader Benoît Cosnfroy (Ag2r La Mondiale), Anthony Perez (Cofidis) and Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Energie) made up the all-French escape and the trio pulled out a three-minute advantage early on. 

Perez proved himself the strongest on the day’s climbs, securing points on the first two ascents of the day and moving into the lead in the mountains competition, but it was Cousin who grew impatient with the group and attacked solo with 128km still to race.

Cosnefroy and Perez opted to sit up and were caught by the peloton, while Cousins settled down to spend the day alone with his thoughts, extending his gap to around four minutes.  

There was very little action in the middle section of the race, aside from an ill-fated two-rider attack from Ag2r La Mondiale, with Cosnefroy and Nans Peters making a half-hearted attempt to get up the road from the peloton but giving up with 65km to race. 

Drama did come on the descent of the Col des Lèques however, when Perez suffered a puncture and then collided with his Cofidis team car. The virtual leader of the KoM classification was forced to abandon the race with a broken collarbone, without ever getting to wear the polka-dot jersey. 

With 20km left to race Deceuninck - Quick-Step were the controlling team in the peloton, with the entire squad lined up ahead of Sam Bennett, while Team Ineos and Jumbo-Visma sat at the front of the bunch to protect their leaders.

After more than 100km out front alone, Cousin was finally swept up by the bunch 16km from home and secured the award for most aggressive rider in the process. 

The bunch together, it was time for the sprint.

Quick-Step kept the pace into the final 5km when a roundabout caused some minor crashes in the bunch, with Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) touching down and losing the bunch and any chance at sprinting himself in the process. 

Riding into a headwind for the entire of the final, Sunweb who took up the race inside the final kilometre.

Just 200m from the line the race looked like it was swaying to Sunweb’s sprinter Cees Bol, but the headwind took its toll and the Dutchman faded. 

Bennett then fired his sprint by the right side barrier and went clear into the lead. 

Ewan finally opened his sprint from sixth place, sneaking from the centre of the road to the right hand side, very narrowly making it past Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), then moving left to travel the long way around Bennett, pushing in front just 10m from the line. 

The victory is Ewan’s fourth in the Tour de France after his trio of wins last year.

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Alaphilippe continues to lead the race by just four seconds over Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).

The race continues with the first mountain finish on stage four, over 160km from Sisteron to Orciéres-Merlette, which closes at the top of the 10km-long, six per cent average Orciéres climb. 

Results

Tour de France 2020, stage three: Nice to Sisteron (198km)

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, 5-17-42

2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

3. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling

4. Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation

5. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

6. Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo

7. Cees Bol (Ned) Sunweb

8. Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team

9. Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept p/b KTM

10. Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie, all at same time

General classification after stage three

1. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quick-Step, in 13-59-17

2. Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 4s

3. Marc Hirschi (Sui) Team Sunweb, at 7s

4. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates

5. Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

6. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers

7. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Jumbo-Visma

8. Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Pro Cycling

9. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis

10. Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott, all at same time

Caleb Ewan says he hopes all sprinters took something from the crash at the Tour of Poland that put Fabio Jakobsen in a coma.

The Deceuninck - Quick-Step has thankfully now been brought around by doctors who are still working to understand the full scale of the Dutchman's injuries. Meanwhile, Caleb Ewan has shed some light on the dangers of being a sprinter and how the fast men of the peloton need to have respect for one another.

"Bunch sprints are always dangerous and the road's only so wide," the Australian says at Lotto-Soudal's hotel before the start of Milan - San Remo. "Sprinters obviously need to have respect for each other because at the end of the day we're all trying to win and, in a way, we're all in it together.

"We don't want to harm each other and with moving lines and everything, we all do it. We've all done it before.

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"But there's a point where you can try to prop a rider a little bit...but you know there's a point where if I keep going this rider is going to end up in the barrier.

"Riders just need to have respect for each other. If someone's clearly coming around you can't just keep pushing them into a barrier. I hope all the sprinters took something from what happened there. It's super dangerous what we do and we don't need to make it any more dangerous than it already is."

Ewan says every sprinter knows what's safe and what's not: "I think you know when you're doing something really dangerous. And that's when you back out or stop doing what you're doing and you're pretty aware of what you're doing."

Ewan, only 26, has a young child at home in Monaco and says when he saw footage of the crash that was understandably where his mind went.

"If that was me, it's kind of a scary thought," he said of being a professional bike rider with a young family waiting back at home. "As I said, what we do is so dangerous and you probably do think about it more if you have a family of your own.

"I think it's always worrying for family members. Obviously, for my wife, it's probably very scary for her but also my parents, who are on the other side of the world. If something happened to me...I think it's pretty worrying for them.

"But you have to kind of take it out of your mind because if you're always thinking about that then that's when your sprinting career could be over."

For Ewan, his sprinting career continues at Milan - San Remo, where he provides an alternative to Philippe Gilbert should the race come down to a bunch sprint.

The Tour de France Champs-Élysées stage winner is motivated for what he says is the only Monument he can realistically win and is looking forward to testing himself against good friend Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) as well as Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates), with the likes of Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) also taking the start line.

Caleb Ewan put in another storming sprint on the Hatta Dam climb to take victory, as Sam Bennett faded in the final 50 metres of stage two at the UAE Tour 2020.

Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) was the first to launch his sprint at the foot of the 17 per cent max gradient ramp, hitting the front with Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) pinned to his wheel.

But with 300 metres to the line, it was a long stretch for the heavier sprinter Bennett, who lost his momentum in the final few metres, as Ewan powered past to take victory, following up on his Hatta Dam victory from last year.

Pascal Ackermann was dropped in the final, handing his race lead over to Ewan in the process.

How it happened

Stage two of the 2020 UAE Tour featured a revamped course for the familiar Hatta Dam stage, with organisers adding in more climbing over the 168km run before the finish.

Starting in nearby Hatta, the peloton raced out towards Gulf of Oman over lumpy terrain before heading back to the dam.

The final climb is only 600 metres long at an average gradient of seven per cent, but it is that maximum gradient that decides the winner and saw Caleb Ewan take victory on stage four last year.

Only two riders committed to the day’s breakaway, Leonardo Totomasi and Veljko Stojnič, both from Vini Zabù-KTM, as most teams were committed to the final climb.

The escapees built up an advantage of more than three minutes before the peloton began to close them down and with 50km to race the gap was down under two minutes, as Stojnič sat up to leave his team-mate alone.

Tortomasi was finally swept up with around 25km to the line, with undulating terrain left to navigate.

The race then started to unfold on an uncategorised climb with around 10km to race, as Victor Campenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling) launched an attack off the front of the bunch and was followed by Nicola Conci (Trek-Segafredo).

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With that injection of pace there were plenty of casualties, as Mark Cavendish (Bahrain-McLaren), Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) and Chris Froome (Team Ineos) were dropped from the bunch, while Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) also let his narrow grasp on the leader's jersey slip away as he sat up.

Conci and Campenaerts were caught before the final ramp, as Lotto-Soudal led the peloton for Ewan.

As the race hit the foot of the climb with around 300 metres to race, Bennett took the inside line and swept past Ewan to launch his sprint, but as the gradient ramped up the Australian was able to catch Bennett and wait on his wheel.

With 50m to go Bennett began to slow while Ewan upped his pace, when the Irishman’s effort collapsed and Ewan went clear for the line.

UAE Tour 2020, stage two: Hatta to Hatta Dam (168km)

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, in 4-18-16

2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 2s

3. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 4s

4. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

5. Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation

6. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale

7. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott

8. Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott

9. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates

10. David Gaudi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, all at same time

General classification after stage two

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, in 7-47-19

2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 12s

3. Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 16s

4. Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo, at 17s

5. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana, at 19s

6. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott, at 20s

7. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale

8. Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation

9. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb

10. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, all at same time

Caleb Ewan's Tour Down Under has proved a successful start to the new season for the Lotto-Soudal sprinter.

The Australian has picked up two stage victories after failing to take a single win at the 2019 edition.

However, his hard work was nearly undone on the penultimate stage five. As television cameras followed his chase group tracking down the GC favourites who had disappeared up the road, having hammered the pace on the category two ascent of Kerby Hill, something bizarre happened.

Nestled in the middle of the group, Ewan suddenly veers out to the right-hand side of the road, going on to the grass but thankfully managing to stay upright.

>>> Watch: Tour Down Under 2020 stage five highlights

Commentators said it had been a touch of wheels, but the 25-year-old has now clarified exactly what happened.

"Gel in one hand and the other hand slipped off," Ewan commented on Twitter, adding an emoji of a man slapping his forehead, acknowledging how close he had come to his race ending prematurely.

Ewan has got the better of his sprint rivals at this Tour Down Under, an early marker of where various riders' form is at. He will leave the race with the most stage victories of any of the fast men, having won two compared to Sam Bennett's (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) solitary opening stage win while Giacomo Nizzolo finished off a well-executed team manoeuvre to get NTT their first victory under the stewardship of Bjarne Riis.

While Ewan's save paid testament to his bike handling skills, it's unlikely to win any crash-avoiding awards this year, if they are even a thing that exist.

In 2019 Egan Bernal avoided coming off his time trial bike at the Tour de Suisse in what was a very sketchy moment.

The Colombian managed to stay upright in what otherwise would have seen him lose the race led.

Caleb Ewan delivered on high expectations and tore the field apart during the uphill finish in Stirling on stage two of the Tour Down Under 2020.

After an emphatic victory in the Schwalbe Classic last weekend, Australian Ewan showed his versatility by securing the win on a stage not suited to the pure sprinters.

Ewan's result was revenge for the 2019 edition of the WorldTour race, where he was stripped of victory on stage five for head-butting a rival in the sprint and didn't take another win in that edition.

The Lotto-Soudal rider takes over the race lead, usurping stage one winner Sam Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) who finished outside the top 10 on the second day.

Ewan’s old team-mate Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) fired into second place on the stage and picked up valuable bonus seconds as he looks to take a third consecutive general classification victory Down Under.

How it happened

The second day of WorldTour racing got underway at the Tour Down Under 2020 with a punchy 135.8km, starting in Woodside to the east of Adelaide and finishing in nearby Stirling.

Riders faced three laps of a short 11km circuit around Woodside to start, which included four ascents of the Quarry Road climb (1km at 7.1 per cent) in the opening 38km.

The peloton then headed south-west for the short trip to Stirling where they entered the 21km closing circuit and crossed the finish for the first time. Each lap featured a testing short and sharp, but uncategorised, climb to the finish line, with the race decided on the fourth time up the rise.

As the peloton rolled out, attacks kicked off within 3km of the official start, as Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team) went clear for the second day in a row and was joined by Samuel Jenner of UniSA-Australia.

Shortly after, Omer Goldstein (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Laurens De Vreese (Astana) also pushed on from the peloton to establish the day's four-rider breakaway.

After pulling out almost three-minutes' advantage at the peak, the bunch began to claw back the leaders, when Rosskopf attacked in pursuit of KoM points with around 96km to race.

The American took maximum points on the Quarry Road climb to secure the climber's classification lead for the day.

With 43km to go, Laurens De Vreese was next to attack the leading group and he rode an admirable 20km off the front before he was caught by the bunch, which brought the peloton back together and set up the rapid run to the finish.

Inside 5km, Mitchelton-Scott and Lotto-Soudal led the charge on opposite side of the road, before a crash split the bunch at 1,400m to race.

Mitchelton continued to set a blistering pace inside 1,000m, as Impey hit the front with 200m to race with Sam Bennett trying to move up on the left side of the road.

>>> Denise Betsema says positive doping test caused by contaminated supplement 

But Bennett faded rapidly as Ewan emerged from nowhere to power through the middle and sail well clear of Impey and take victory after a chaotic final.

Ewan now leads the race on the same time as Sam Bennett, with Daryl Impey now one-second behind.

Results

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, in 3-27-31

2. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott

3. Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis

4. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates

5. Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana

6. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale

7. Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma

8. Luis León Sánchez (Esp) Astana

9. Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates

10. George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma, all at same time

General classification after stage two

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, in 6-56-15

2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at same time

3. Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott, at 1s

4. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates, at 4s

5. Nathan Haas (Aus) Cofidis, at 5s

6. Jarrad Drizners (Aus) UniSA-Australia, at 7s

7. Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling, at 8s

8. Chris Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos

9. Jay McCarthy (Aus), all at same time

10. George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma, at 9s

Caleb Ewan took the sprint at the Tour Down Under Schwalbe Classic Criterium to make it four victories in five editions for the Australian.

The Lotto-Soudal sprinter beat out European road race champion Elia Viviani into second with his Cofidis team-mate Simone Consonni finishing third.

Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) and Kristoffer Halvorsen (EF Pro Cycling) rounded out the top five with Britain's Chris Lawless (Ineos) making the top 10 in ninth place.

In his first outing wearing Deceuninck - Quick-Step colours, Sam Bennett found himself too far back to contest the sprint, with his lead-out man Michael Mørkøv instead finishing seventh.

Wet conditions blighted the peloton and a crash in the closing kilometres brought down a number of riders, splitting the peloton.

As EF Pro Cycling looked to set things up for Halvorsen, Ewan launched his sprint early from the right-hand side of the road. He quickly opened up a gap as Viviani and the others looked to pull him back but the Australian finished with clear daylight between him and his rivals.

Speaking after his win, Ewan said: "I think it was maybe the last six or seven laps it started to rain a bit which made it a bit more nervous in the bunch. But we were in a great position, my team did a great job to help me stay up the front there because there was a lot of fighting for position. Roger [Kluge] left that gap for me in the final straight there and that gave me a really great launchpad.

"I start this season with a bit of pressure to replicate what I did last year so I'll try and grow my wins on top of that."

The men's Tour Down Under begins on Tuesday January 21, with Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) already sealing the overall victory in the women's race.

Results

Tour Down Under Schwalbe Classic Criterium, Adelaide (51km)

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soual, in 1-04-29

2. Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis

3. Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis

4. Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates

5. Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) EF Pro Cycling

6.  Alberto Dainese (Ita) Sunweb

7. Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step

8. Sam Welsford (Aus) Australia

9. Chris Lawless (GBr) Ineos

10. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling, all at same time

Caleb Ewan has extended his contract with Lotto-Soudal until the end of the 2022 season.

The Australian sprinter enjoyed one of his most successful seasons so far during his first year with the Belgian squad, winning three stages of the Tour de France, including a coveted victory on the Champs-Élysées on stage 21.

The 25-year-old only transferred to Lotto-Soudal from Mitchelton-Scott last year, looking for a team more dedicated to helping him take stage victories, with the Australian team having to balance the ambition of the Yates twins, with both Adam and Simon targeting the overall victories of stage races.

Alongside Ewan's extension, Lotto-Soudal have also renewed the contracts of Jasper De Buyst and Roger Kluge until the end of 2022, with the German having followed Ewan across from Mitchelton-Scott.

>>> Weirdest team-mates, teleportation and the end of cycling in 2050: Ten questions with Caleb Ewan

In an interview with Cycling Weekly, Ewan claimed that Kluge was the weirdest team-mate he had, but that the pair got on very well.

Commenting on his contract extension, the Australian said: "I already knew after probably the first few months in the team that it was a great fit for me and something that I wanted to continue on with in the future. That was before I even started doing well with the team.

"The first few months of this year were going so well. The team had so much faith in me and I just knew that if we worked together well that the wins would start coming. I just felt so comfortable in the team that straight away from the first few months I knew that, if the opportunity came and the team wanted to keep me, that I’d be happy to extend for a longer period and that we could really work together and work towards the future."

Caleb Ewan is expected to head to Australia at the start of 2020 to race the Santos Tour Down Under and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. He could then once again go on to ride both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, as he targets more Grand Tour stage victories.

2019 has been a year Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan will be able to look back on fondly.

After switching teams from Mitchelton-Scott to Lotto-Soudal, the 25-year-old went into his first ever participation in the Tour de France and came away with three stage wins. Including claiming victory on the Champs-Élysées on stage 21.

>>> Chris Froome undergoes further operation as he continues his recovery

However, after a season of incessantly talking about racing, what went well and what went wrong, how the legs are feeling, it can be nice to take a moment in the off-season to find out a bit more about the person behind the rider.

Therefore, when we caught up Caleb Ewan at the recent Six Day London, we decided to delve a bit further, go a bit left field. What superpower would Ewan choose? And what does he think the world will be like in 2050?

Here are ten questions with Caleb Ewan.

The Six Day Series continues in Manchester on March 13, get your tickets here.

Caleb Ewan fulfilled his dream of taking the prestigious Tour de France sprint on the Champs-Élyées, eight years after making a vow to win there.

The Lotto-Soudal sprinter powered ahead of his rivals on stage 21 of the Tour to take his third victory of this year’s race, cementing a phenomenal debut.

Ewan was the only sprinter to notch multiple victories in this year’s race, as he bested Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) in the final opportunity.

>>> Five talking points from stage 21 of the Tour de France 2019 

The 25-year-old said: “It’s unbelievable. Just to roll down the Champs-Élysées is such a surreal feeling. The Tour de France started up quite slow for me. I thought I was not going to make it but the second half of the race has been incredibly successful for me

“Eight years ago on my first visit to the Champs-Élysées I said I’d win here one day. It’s fantastic that it happened on my first Tour.”

Ewan found himself a long way back in the bunch on the final straight, as three riders spread out across the road in front of him.

But he was able deploy his trademark technique of sprinting into a gap to get the full benefit of the slipstream, before darting right and passing everyone to take stage honours.

Groenewegen was closest to matching Ewan as he sprinted left, but appeared to give up before the line and missed out on a repeat of his stage 21 victory back in 2017.

>>> Was the Tour de France 2019 the greatest edition in history? 

Ewan added: “It was quite a messy sprint today. I was quite far back. I waited and I just ran out of wheels. I went to the right hand side and I was lucky that I had enough speed at the end.”

His move to Lotto-Soudal have proven inspired as he has won stages in both the Giro and now the Tour for the Belgian squad, having been left in the wilderness by his old team Mitchelton-Scott, as they pursued general classification hope in Grand Tours.

Caleb Ewan, the dominant sprinter of the Tour de France

It looked as though no sprinter would emerge dominant in the 2019 Tour de France, with each of the top-tier fast-men taking one stage each in the first half of the race.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) was the first and only sprinter to pull ahead when he took a second stage victory deep into the race in Nîmes, but he and his sprinting rivals faced the daunting task of surviving the impending Alpine stages before their final opportunity on the Champs-Élysées.

Miraculously, all the major sprinters made it through the last mountains without incident, setting up one of the most tightly contested sprints in Paris in recent seasons.

Ewan opted for a different sprinting technique on the rough finishing straight, instead riding more upright and forgoing his customary extreme aero tuck, and the tactic worked perfectly.

Starting from a long way back, Ewan sprinted into the gap of riders in front of him to catch their slipstream as three rivals were spread across the road, the huge injection of speed allowing him easily to pass on the right-hand side of the road.

Only Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) came close to matching Ewan on stage 21, as the Dutchman went left but couldn't equal the massive acceleration of the Australian.

Ewan's first time in the Tour has been an unmitigated success, as he finishes a Grand Tour for the first time and emerges as the dominant sprinter, having won all three sprint opportunities in the second half of the race.

Chaos in the Quick-Step train as Elia Viviani misses out

Elia Viviani will have been desperate to win arguably the most prestigious sprint of the year in Paris, having been unable to prove himself as the most talented powerhouse in this year's Tour.

Fortunately the Italian claimed his stage win early in the race on stage four, easing the pressure on himself and from the team, but Viviani will still have been itching to notch another victory in France after taking his first Tour win.

The frustration of having missed out to cyclcross star Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) on stage 10 and again to Caleb Ewan on stage 11 will have nagged Viviani.

>>> Was the Tour de France 2019 the greatest edition in history?

But something went very wrong in his Deceuninck - Quick-Step in the final kilometres of stage 21,  as Viviani found himself detached from his train with 1,200 metres to race.

The narrow run-in prevented him from moving back up to regain contact with his team, who were drilling the pace on the front into the final turn.

Viviani hit the final straight in 13th wheel, well out of contention for the stage, so Quick-Step opted to back Argentinian champion Max Richeze in the sprint instead.

Lead-out rider Richeze put in a valiant effort, hitting the front of the race for a margin of a second before Caleb Ewan and Dylan Groenewegen fired past on opposite sides of the road.

While even one stage victory is enough to make a rider's season a success, Viviani will no doubt be frustrated at not being able to repeat the glory and his performance in Paris shows we are not seeing him at his best this year.

The familiar sight of Team Ineos in yellow

Since that first win back in 2012, we have grown accustomed the the familiar sight of the yellow-adorned jerseys of Team Sky - now Ineos - raising their champagne glasses on the roads around Paris, and 2019 was no different.

The British outfit have now won seven of the last eight Tours de France with four different riders, this year making history once again by putting the first ever Colombian on the top step after stage 21.

Egan Bernal is also the youngest Tour winner in the post-war era and the most junior rider to ever win in the yellow jersey (which was introduced in 1919), making this a momentous occasion for a team that may be getting bored of winning.

The 2020 Tour will be far from the minds of the riders, but management may already be considering how to the balance the ambitions of three proven champions, with Geraint Thomas finishing second this year and Chris Froome on the comeback trail after horrific injuries suffered last month.

How will the most elite of all elite cycling teams navigate future Grand Tours with their embarrassment of riches? Watch this space.

Peter Sagan crosses the line in green for a seventh time

Speaking of familiar sights, how about Peter Sagan draped in the hulkish green of the points classification?

In a Tour of historic moments, Sagan's successful attempt to win a seventh green jersey may have been buried beneath the dozens of other memorable moments.

Sagan is now the most consistent winner of the Tour's points classification, waltzing ahead of Erik Zabel who held six.

This year's Tour may have been a comparatively quiet affair for the Bora-Hansgrohe superstar, with Sagan taking just one stage victory, but his nine top-five finishes reaffirmed his remarkable consistency across all sorts of terrain.

It's likely to be all focus on the Yorkshire Worlds for Sagan now, to see if he can retake the rainbow bands that have also become an emblem of his glowing palmarès.

Romain Bardet settles for polka dots instead of yellow

The great French hope Romain Bardet has been one of the major disappointments of this year's Tour, as I'm sure he will admit himself.

With the absence of both four-time winner Chris Froome (Team Ineos) and Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) due to injury, twinned with the prevalence of high mountains, it looked as if 2019 could be the year for Bardet.

But it wasn't to be as the 28-year-old repeatedly lost time over the three weeks, with the 20 minutes he lost on the Tourmalet stage the final nail in the coffin of his GC hopes for this year.

>>> Chris Froome’s recovery from horror crash ‘ahead of schedule’ says Dave Brailsford 

With Ag2r La Mondiale not winning any stages of the 2019 Tour, it looked as though the French squad could be leaving empty handed, but their Tour was somewhat salvaged as Bardet took the lead in the climber's classification on stage 18.

Thanks to bad weather conditions, two climbs were removed from stage 20 making the task of holding the polka dot jersey that little bit easier for Bardet, who rolled through Paris wearing white jersey and (controversial) white shorts with the prestigious dashes of red.

While Bardet said winning the polka dot jersey was a childhood dream, we know in reality he will be disappointed not to take home the yellow, with the King of the Mountain jersey a poor consolation for such a talent.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) put in a sensational sprint to win stage 16 of the 2019 Tour de France, his second stage victory in the race.

Despite Deceuninck-Quick-Step putting in an almost perfect lead out for Elia Viviani, Ewan was able to come from well back in the bunch on his own to beat the Italian on the line.

>>> Watch: Geraint Thomas crashes in bizarre fall on stage 16 of Tour de France

Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) tried to follow Ewan, but couldn't do enough to come around the Australian and had to settle for third place.

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) safely retained his overall lead as he finished in the bunch safely. The main change in the top-10 sees Richie Porte move up to 10th from 11th after Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) abandoned following a crash with 28km to go.

How it happened

Stage 16 of the 2019 Tour de France would see the last opportunity for the sprinters before Paris on Sunday with a flat loop out and back to Nîmes in the south of France.

The biggest challenge for the peloton would be the stifling heat, with temperatures set to hit up to 40 degrees Celsius in the afternoon.

Still, five men went off early in the day’s breakaway, including Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis), Łukasz Wiśniowski (CCC Team), Paul Ourselin (Total Direct Energie) and Lars Bak (Dimension Data).

The peloton were not happy to let the break get too much of a lead as the Tour heads into its last week, and the five riders out front established a maximum gap of just over two minutes.

Lotto-Soudal and Jumbo-Visma were the main workers on the front of the bunch, with UAE Team Emirates chipping in with one rider early on.

Second overall Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) crashed with around 130km to go, but he was able to get up uninjured and return to the peloton with the help of his team-mates.

Things remained relatively calm as the stage pushed on, and by 45km to go the break had just 55 seconds, having fluctuated down to 22 seconds at one point.

As things began to get more nervous, a crash with 28km to go brought down one of the overall contenders Jakob Fuglsang (Astana). With his team-mates around him, Fuglsang was quickly up and being inspected by medical staff, but it was clear he had injured himself and was forced to abandon the Tour.

Jumbo-Visma continued to work with Tony Martin on the front of the bunch as the gap drifted down to just over 20 seconds to the break, with the German finishing his effort just ahead of the final 15km.

Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) then put in a hard stint on the front to try and put the pain on some of Elia Viviani’s sprint rivals, switching turns with Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) into the final 10km, with now just a 16 second gap.

The break still held on though into the final 5km with 10 seconds in hand. As they rode through the wide roads inside Nîmes, the peloton could see the riders just in front of them. Eventually it took the power of Daniel Oss (Bora-Hansgrohe) to final pull it all back together with 2.5km remaining.

As the peloton sped into the final kilometre, no team was really able to dominate the front with a lead out.

Deceuninck-Quick-Step then made a well-timed move to the front through a chicane with Max Richeze and Michael Mørkøv bringing Elia Viviani to the front.

Despite delivering an almost perfect lead out, Viviani could do nothing to stop Caleb Ewan from coming from behind with a huge turn of speed to take victory on the line.

The Tour de France continues with stage 17 on Wednesday, a 200km route from the Pont du Gard to Gap that should suit the breakaway.

Tour de France 2019, stage 16: Nîmes to Nîmes (177km)

1. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal, in 3-57-08

2. Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-Quick-Step

3. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma

4. Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe

5. Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie

6. Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb

7. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott

8. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo

9. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates

10. Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert, all at same time

General classification after stage 16

1. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick-Step, 64-57-32

2. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos, at 1-35

3. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma, at 1-47

4. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at 1-50

5. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos, at 2-02

6. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 2-14

7. Mikel Landa (Esp) Movistar, at 4-54

8. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 5-00

9. Rigoberto Urán (Col) EF Education First, at 5-33

10. Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo, at 6-30