Caleb Ewan wins fourth Tour Down Under Classic with vintage burst of speed in the city
Two weeks ago Caleb Ewan posted a photo of himself lying on the beach in Noosa but it was hardly a holiday. On Sunday night he produced his trademark speed to win the Tour Down Under Schwalbe Classic for the fourth time.
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The bear has woken from his hibernation as hungry and fast as ever.
Australian sprint sensation Caleb Ewan opened his 2020 season in the only way he knows by winning the Santos Tour Down Under’s opening night Schwalbe Classic for the fourth time.
Ewan - who for the first time in over eight years decided to skip the Bay Crits and national championships in early January - and just two weeks ago posted a photo of himself lying on the beach in Noosa was clearly not in holiday mode for long.
“Yeah well, Instagram can be deceiving sometimes ... you only post the good parts,” Ewan said.
“To be honest I was doing a lot of hard work the last few months and I wanted to keep the momentum of last year going and I took the decision to stay with my family a bit longer (over summer) and it worked for tonight and hopefully into the Tour now.
“Last year I did Bay Crits and nationals to prepare for this and came away with no wins, so after that I had a bit of a re-think because starting your season in Australia full gas kind of affects you later in the year.
“It is a long season especially now I need to be hitting targets in July which I didn’t have to do before.
“I’ve only done five race days since the Tour de France last year and I was a little bit nervous going into today, you never know how your legs are going to be after having so much time off racing, but I’m happy with where my form’s at.”
Ewan took no time to find his legs by obliterating his WorldTour rivals in the home straight to win from Italian Elia Viviani and his teammate Simone Consonni.
The 25-year-old Lotto-Soudal rider has long been known as one of the fastest sprinters in the world but last year announced himself as an international force by winning three stages of the Tour de France, two of the Giro d’Italia and the Brussels Cycling Classic before he was named Australian Cyclist of the Year.
The pre-race favourite sat dead last of 140 riders mid-way through the 51km criterium before his man lead-out man Roger Kluge went back to start the job of moving him up.
With 15 laps to go they began moving up and with 10 laps left Ewan was at the front with his Lotto-Soudal teammates and preparing for their perfectly-timed launch.
When he unleashed with 200m to go no one could go with him and he claimed back to back classic victories to announce himself as a genuine contender for the sprint stages later this week.
For the first time in the Tour’s 22-year history the opening night classic was held in the heart of the city, starting and finishing in Wakefield St opposite the Tour Village which drew another big crowd.
The criterium started and finished in light rain but it didn’t slow the peloton which averaged over 51km/h for most part of the race.
There were six riders in the breakaway which formed on the first lap and included emerging young Aussie Nick White who is riding with UniSA-Australia and took two of the first three intermediate sprints.
The break was only ever given a 15-second advantage by the peloton eager to keep them in sight around the tight city circuit before Polish rider Josef Cerny attacked his breakaway companions with 10 laps to go.
The escapees were eventually reeled in with five laps to go and Team Ineos on the front led by Rohan Dennis and Luke Rowe who were driving the pace.
A minor crash with three laps to go split the field but the big hitters remained at the front where Ewan and Kluge followed Ineos’ every move and the Aussie dynamo had the legs when it mattered most.
The Tour Down Under proper begins on Tuesday with Stage 1 starting and finishing in Tanunda where the sprinters will get another chance to shine before the race heads for the hills.
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Originally published as Caleb Ewan wins fourth Tour Down Under Classic with vintage burst of speed in the city
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