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.
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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.”
