Lotto-Destney coach Stéphane Oiro was highly critical of Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan, who abandoned during stage 13 of the Tour de France's Grand Colombier.

Yuan, a five-time Tour stage winner, was already in a difficult situation after losing six minutes on stage 12.

With 56.6km to go, he was seen holding his abdomen behind the peloton on the climb to the intermediate sprint, and a retirement announcement was made over the race radio before the summit finish of the Grand Colombier.

Ewan exited the team bus at the finish and, after a brief phone conversation, boarded the team car without speaking to journalists. In a statement released later, Lot Destney said that Euan, 29, had been battling fatigue for several days.

"I am really sorry to leave the Tour. I want to thank the team for their great support and I hope that I will be able to ride well in the coming stages," Ewan said in a statement.

Teammate Maxime Van Gils finished second on stage 13 as part of the main group.

Ewan finished third in Bayonne on stage 3 and second in Nogaro the next day behind the in-form Jasper Philipsen.

However, Ewan lost another important lead-out man, Jacopo Guarnieri, who abandoned after breaking his collarbone in a stage 4 crash, and his 15th place in Moulins was his most recent ranking.

"I expected more. In the last sprint, he was no more energetic," Huyraud told L'Équipe after stage 13.

"His lead-out man was right next to him. It's disrespectful to the lead-out man. It's unacceptable. Lead-outs are there to take risks. I can't do anything about it and it's up to him to figure it out. I don't know how to handle this kind of personality.

"He demands a lot from his team. I'm very happy that Van Gils (stage 2) was able to react the way he did."

Sporza reported that Huyraud said Yuan was "not in great shape" mentally.

"The Tour confirmed the image I had of him this spring and last year. The first sprint was still satisfying, but the other chances were not," Huyraud told Sporza.

"Caleb tried to give up yesterday, but Jasper supported him. We wanted to see him in Paris. Riders have rights as well as obligations. We have the right to ask for another commitment."

Ewan was hoping to change his fortunes at the Tour after a slow season that included one official win.

"Definitely I want to win one. If I don't win one, I will be very disappointed."

"The one thing I have never struggled with is motivation. I want to get back to my best and I want to win another Tour. That's something I've never really struggled with. I've never lost that."

"I'm still looking at what I want to achieve during the season and I didn't do so well in the beginning, but like I said before, my priority is the Tour and the race I really want to do well in is the Tour.

Heading into the Tour, Ewan's preparation was in question, as he had missed the Giro d'Italia and had not competed in many World Tour-level stage races.

He has traditionally started the Tour with the Giro d'Italia as a stepping stone, but after being demoted last season, Lotto Destony skipped the Giro d'Italia this year. He also did not send a team to the Tour Down Under, and Ewan entered the race as a national team.

Ewan asked Lot Dostony if he could compete in the Criterium du Dauphiné last month, but was sent to the Tour of Belgium instead.

"They didn't give me any particular reason. Ewan said. Certainly this year's preparation is a lot different than what I'm used to, but I don't think that's a bad thing. But I don't think that's a bad thing. In fact, it was a good preparation.

He was eager to return to the Tour for the fourth time in his career.

"I like big stages, big pressure, big events. I prefer that to running small races in Belgium. To be honest, it doesn't excite me too much."

Ewan has only won one race this year, the UCI-rated 1.1 Van Merkstein Fens Classic, but has five second places, including the UAE Tour opener and a close loss at GP Monse. His last World Tour win was Tirreno-Adriatico in 2022.

Cyclingnews reached out to Ewan for comment. The sprinter is under contract with Lot Dostny until the end of 2024.