After 'the Giro from hell', Caleb Ewan is heading home early
After 11 stages of a Giro d’Italia that he’d probably rather forget, Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) is heading home to concentrate on his build-up to the Tour de France.
Ewan’s Giro started in frustrating fashion, crashing in the final sprint on stage 1 after getting himself in a good position on the uphill drag to the line. In the sprint stages that followed, Ewan took eighth on stage 3 (won by Mark Cavendish), was dropped on an early climb on stage 5 (which Arnaud Demaré won), took second place on stage 6 (behind Demaré), and then was the last rider to finish on Tuesday’s stage 10, more than half an hour behind stage winner Biniam Girmay.
In an Instagram post after that stage, Ewan vented his frustration. “The Giro from hell continued for me today,” he wrote. “Got dropped around 80 km to go alone and just made it within the time limit. Since my crash on the first stage I feel like my Giro just keeps going downhill. Another sprint chance tomorrow so I’m hoping to turn it around.”
Stage 11 didn’t bring any joy either – Ewan was only able to manage fifth on a day won by Alberto Dainese (DSM).
Het Nieuwsblad reports that Ewan will now leave the Giro ahead of stage 12, to rest and prepare for upcoming appearances at the Baloise Belgium Tour (June 15) and the Tour de France (July 1). Ewan had always planned to leave the Giro early, but hoped to take a stage win – if not multiple – before doing so.
While a fully rested Ewan will be among the sprinters to beat at the Tour de France, he might well be without a key member of his lead-out train: Jasper De Buyst. The Belgian crashed heavily at the Tour of Turkey in April and is still recovering from fractures to his hip socket and collarbone. It’s not yet clear whether he’ll be back racing, let alone at a high-enough level, in time to support Ewan at the Tour.
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