About 40 minutes after a battered, exhausted Michael Matthews (Orica Bike Exchange), one leg heavily bandaged, scored a stunning victory on stage 14 of the Tour de France, another Australian sprinter crossed the finish line grateful that his "shocking day" was over.

Callebaut, who was the first to win a Tour de France stage.

Caleb Yuan fell about 10km from the start of the stage from Saint-Etienne to Mende, but he and three of his Lotto-Soudal teammates, Tim Wellens, Frederik Frisson, and Reinhard Janse van Rensburg, were back in They were able to pass. Despite a short-term setback after a crash on stage 13, the Tour de France was already tough, with another crash in the first week and a missed opportunity in Denmark.

But even if his Grand Tour struggles this year date back to the Giro d'Italia, which he called "the Giro from hell," Ewan is upbeat and determined to take on the few remaining Tour de France stages. Before boarding the bus, he told reporters, "The team supported me today, and I'm very proud of them."

"If it wasn't for my teammates helping me, I wouldn't have got the result I got today. 'It was a shocking day from the start. I lost a few positions early on and was trying to find my rhythm.

Instead, Tadej Pogachar struggled to get going early on, and the attack to form a breakaway group lasted much longer than Yuan would have liked. And when the dust settles, it makes a mountain.

The crash on stage 13 did nothing to turn things around, but Ewan said the crash was not the only thing holding him back in this year's Tour.

"Obviously I've had a lot of days like this in the Tour, so I don't feel good for the whole Tour. 'There were days when I felt okay, but I struggled a lot and the crash obviously didn't help.'

"So I'm hoping we can fight another day and things will turn around and I'm still hoping for a stage win.

Ewan, a five-time Tour de France stage winner who is participating for the fourth time, noted that dramatic reversals of fortune can come quickly in such a hard race. The sprinter said he could be part of the mix again in Carcassonne on Sunday.

"Tomorrow, if it's anything like today [Saturday], you don't stand a chance. I felt good yesterday [Friday] until I crashed, and today was another shocker.

"Maybe tomorrow will be better, maybe Paris will be better. I'll keep riding until I can't go anymore."