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It has been a barren time in recent years for Australian star sprinter Caleb Ewan at the Tour de France, where once the roads were paved with wins. For years, the discussion of who is the best sprinter in the world was Ewan and whoever was the challenger of the moment, maybe Sam Bennett, maybe Marcel Kittel.
But just one win in UCI-ranked races in 2023, 780 days since his last Grand Tour victory and a series of disappointments rather than triumphs at recent Tours de France - with crashes playing a big part – has seen the Aussie slip down the rankings.
The 2023 Tour de France doesn’t see Ewan arrive as the sprinter everyone is talking about, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Decueninck) and Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) are the top tier, and even among Australians talking on social media, Sam Welsford (DSM-Firmenich) is the name I see thrown around as the tip for a stage win after an impressive start to 2023.
It’s the cream of the sprinting crop present at this year’s Tour de France, with really only Sam Bennett, Jonathan Milan, Tim Merlier and Kaden Groves missing out from the top tiers of sprinters and Ewan finds himself one of many rather than the man everyone is trying to beat.
So how can he find that winning feeling?
Ewan showed on Stage 1 that he has no interest in the green jersey this year, he’s oscillated between staying relevant in the competition in early stages in past years and doing next to nothing to save himself for the final bunch sprints. That was what he did in his peak year of 2019, with three stage wins the reward, so he’s clearly looking to recapture that mojo again.
"I definitely don't want to be in Paris as disappointed as I was last year so that's extra motivation," Ewan said at a pre-Tour press conference. "I think my prep last year wasn't great, so I think I know where I went wrong. I've gone back to what I did when I had more success at Tours and that made a big difference.”
“Being successful at a Tour makes or break a season. You can win twenty races outside the Tour, but if you don’t win a stage of the Tour then your season is not a success. I’m hoping I can redeem my season here.”
Ewan’s contract isn’t up at the end of this season, his deal extends through to the end of 2024, but it’s getting back to being considered one of the best in the world that’s up for grabs. A good performance, a couple of stage wins enshrines his position in the sprinting ranks, another also-ran performance would almost see the Australian consigned to second-tier status.
His team is assembled around him, he has a good lead-out, one that should rival Alpecin-Deceuninck and Soudal-QuickStep. There will be a lot of sprints at this Tour de France, probably eight or so on paper, and you would have to think that he will have several chances to sprint for the win.
"We have faith in him and we gave him the best lead-out for the Tour,” said Lotto-Dstny general manager Stephane Heulot. “He has worked hard for it and his values are good. But a sprint is about more, including instinct and placement. Hopefully we will see the real Caleb as we know him.”
Those aren’t ringing words of endorsement and confidence in the leader of your team, and at the moment that reflects the esteem in which Ewan is perceived.
I’ve long been one of Ewan’s legion of fans, but while the past years I’ve been able to write off to a poor lead-out and a sizeable helping of bad luck, those elements haven’t been present to the same extent this year. While there’s been pressure before on Ewan in the past to overcome the bad luck and his team’s positioning to win, now it’s more on Ewan to make more of the good chances that he’s presented with.
It’s not make-or-break for Ewan yet, but I can’t imagine that Lotto-Dstny are going to be rolling with a full sprint train in future Tours de France if there isn’t some return this year.
