‘Business as usual’ for Caleb Ewan in last race for Mitchelton-Scott
Australian sprinter focused on task at hand at Tour of Britain before 2019 move to Lotto-Soudal
Caleb Ewan was in a philosophical mood ahead the start of stage three at the Tour of Britain, in what is his last race for Mitchelton-Scott before moving to Lotto-Soudal for 2019.
“It’s really just business as usual,” Ewan said. “I don’t feel any different and don’t feel any emotion that it’s my last race of this year, I’ve just come in to try and do my job and win as I usually would.”
Ewan missed out on taking the race lead and stage win on stage one and stage three, but says he would love to sign off his time at the team in style.
“I’d love to do that, there should be a few more opportunities but it’s quite tough at the Tour of Britain, there is always a climb right at the end or for the finish itself. So we just need to take opportunities where we can.”
The 24-year-old has managed just two wins all season, with a stage victory at the Tour Down Under and a win in the one-day Spanish race Clasica de Almeria. He did however score a second place at Monument Milan-San Remo, but struggled to get further that runner-up in the Tour of California which followed in May.
Ewan was then overlooked for selection for the Tour de France potentially because of his impending transfer and as Mitchelton-Scott looked to back Adam Yates in the general classification. The Australian will be hoping wider opportunities in races like the Tour present themselves when he joins Lotto-Soudal.
“We haven’t spoken about my race programme just yet, but that’s one [Tour de France] that I’ll be looking for and I think they’ll support that,” Ewan said.
“Its going to be completely different to what I’m use to. I’ve been in the Australian system my whole life now so to change into a Belgian team is going to be different but I’m looking forward to the new challenge and seeing how it is.”