Caleb Ewan in full flight was a wonderful thing. I remember his victory in Sisteron on stage three of the Tour de France in 2020, which feels like a different time now. The Australian, then riding for Lotto Soudal, jived and jinked round seemingly every other sprinter on the way to take his fourth Tour stage, which would prove to be his penultimate. While others had whole teams marshalling them to the finish, Ewan did it all on his own, dodging his rivals, almost slamming into the barriers, finding space at high speed before the line came. This wasn’t pure power smashing everyone else away, like Marcel Kittel or Jasper Philipsen, but finesse, fine margins, and expert bike handling.
The idea that this victory came despite, not because of, his team was one which dogged Ewan through his career - the Australian was often the first to point this out. He was the heir to André Greipel at Lotto, but clearly felt unsettled at times in the Belgian team, despite his Giro d'Italia and Tour success while there. He left Lotto under a cloud, then had a disappointing return to Jayco AlUla, which lasted just a season, before he ended up at Ineos Grenadiers.
