Giro d’Italia 2021: Caleb Ewan says stage win a relief as he targets victory in all three Grand Tours in a single season
The Australian sprinter delivered another remarkable sprint
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.
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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.”
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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