Caleb Ewan is in the early stages of his career, but he’s already enjoyed a rollercoaster ride of an introduction to the Abu Dhabi Tour.
The 23-year-old Australian, who only turned professional in 2014, crashed out on the first stage of last year’s event in Abu Dhabi and was then caught on the line by Marcel Kittel on Stage 2 after raising his arms in celebration too early.
That stunt left him distraught despite seeing him gain possession of the best young rider’s white jersey, but a year on he claims his race in the UAE capital 12 months ago taught him a lot.
“Last year I crashed on the first stage with 5km to go so I’m off to a better start this year,” said the Mitchelton-Scott man who was again given the white jersey on Wednesday after claiming third place on the opening stage behind winner Alexander Kristoff and Andrea Guardini.
“I learnt a lot from last year, obviously the main thing was to not celebrate too early. It’s not the most important race but in other ways it is.
“To beat some of the other big sprinters here is a bonus. You have them all here where you can afford to experiment and stuff it up a little bit maybe, it’s a good thing.”
Analysis of the rider data from the @Abu_Dhabi_Tour Stage 1 final sprint which involved @TeamUAEAbuDhabi's @Kristoff87, @MitcheltonSCOTT's @CalebEwan and @quickstepteam's @eliaviviani #RideToAbuDhabi #roadcycling #procycling #uciworldtour pic.twitter.com/b52QnHhypg
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) February 21, 2018
The Sydney native feels victory eluded him as he started his sprint a little too early, but he was pleased to compete against and beat some of the best sprinters in the field, with Elia Viviani, Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel all finishing behind him.
“I’m happy with my sprints. It’s good signs for the next few stages,” added the youngster.
“We’re probably not going to get a sprint field this good until the Tour de France. You can watch videos but there’s nothing like racing them and we won’t get a field this good so it’s good to race here and it would be even better to get a stage win here.”
And while Ewan can be content with third, he says it proves you have to be at your best when competing against the best.
He added: “The finish line always looks much closer than it is. So, when I went it felt like it was right there.
“I settled into my sprint then realised after a few seconds I went a little early. And in a sprint field like this you really need to nail your sprint. All the best sprinters are here so I had to nail the timing.”
