Caleb Ewan let loose a roar when he crossed the end line to assert not solely his first UCI win of the season however the first victory in virtually one 12 months. 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 Basic in Could 2023, and GP de Fourmies in September 2022.
“I felt good. It has been perhaps 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 12 months or a 12 months and a half, ” Ewan advised flobikes and different media on the end in Muscat.
“I wanted the arrogance and I believe it is good that my new crew has the arrogance as nicely. So nice feeling to begin like this.”
The stress to ship was constructing the 11-time Grand Tour stage winner who re-joined Group Jayco-AlUla after a troublesome 2023. The 12 months seemed promising when the 29-year-old gained 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 Below, the place his finest putting was fourth on stage 1.
Including to the stress 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 12 months to be sincere and within the sprinting now, clearly, everybody’s so good that you simply actually must get it proper each time. And at the moment, we bought 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 prepare. The identical squad might be taking over seven-day WorldTour race, Tirreno-Adriatico, in early March. Ewan gained a stage on the Italian stage race in 2022.
With a win below his belt, he’ll deal with the remainder of the season, beginning with utilizing the hilly phases in Oman to his benefit.
“I mentioned to one among my teammates, I hope I will win at the moment as a result of having the burden off my shoulders within the climbs will make it quite a bit simpler. And I believe whenever you trip round with only a bit extra confidence and simply having that stress off it is gonna make it quite a bit simpler. And now the remainder of the race I can actually deal with going fairly deep in a number of the phases and simply sort of construct my kind.”
“This 12 months I actually need to come again to my finest and hopefully that is the beginning of it.”
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