Caleb Ewan let loose a roar when he crossed the end line to say not solely his first UCI win of the season however the first victory in nearly one yr. The Australian sprinter was the quickest within the hectic bunch dash end on stage 1 of the Tour of Oman.
Ewan’s final two presences on prime of a UCI podium have been on the Van Merksteijn Fences Traditional in Could 2023, and GP de Fourmies in September 2022.
“I felt good. It has been possibly seven or eight months since my final victory, after which earlier than that, most likely one other seven or eight months. So just one win within the final most likely yr or a yr and a half, ” Ewan advised flobikes and different media on the end in Muscat.
“I wanted the boldness and I believe it is good that my new crew has the boldness as properly. So nice feeling to begin like this.”
The strain to ship was constructing the 11-time Grand Tour stage winner who re-joined Staff Jayco-AlUla after a tough 2023. The yr appeared promising when the 29-year-old received the Australian Criterium Championship final month however then he was struck by an sickness within the lead-up to the WorldTour opener, the Tour Down Beneath, the place his greatest putting was fourth on stage 1.
Including to the strain is the truth that the primary Oman stage, a flat 181.5km affair, was the one probability for the sprinters to shine within the race.
“I’ve felt good all yr to be trustworthy and within the sprinting now, clearly, everybody’s so good that you simply actually must get it proper each time. And at this time, we acquired it proper and pulled it off.”
The Tour of Oman can be the primary time that Ewan raced along with his leadout man Max Walsheid who was introduced in from Cofidis to bolster the crew’s dash practice. The identical squad might be taking up seven-day WorldTour race, Tirreno-Adriatico, in early March. Ewan received a stage on the Italian stage race in 2022.
With a win underneath his belt, he’ll concentrate on the remainder of the season, beginning with utilizing the hilly phases in Oman to his benefit.
“I mentioned to certainly one of my teammates, I hope I will win at this time as a result of having the burden off my shoulders within the climbs will make it loads simpler. And I believe whenever you experience round with only a bit extra confidence and simply having that strain off it is gonna make it loads simpler. And now the remainder of the race I can actually concentrate on going fairly deep in numerous the phases and simply type of construct my type.”
“This yr I actually need to come again to my greatest and hopefully that is the beginning of it.”
