At last year's Tour de France, Caleb Yuan (Lotto-Dousteny) rode all 21 stages without a single podium finish.

After a tough start in Spain, the sprinters' first chance came on stage 3. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Desseuninck) won after a perfect lead through the difficult chicane, with Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorias) in second and Ewan catching up in the closing stages to take third.

"As expected, it was a very hectic finish," Ewan told reporters after the stage. The first few stages of the Tour, especially the sprints, are always hectic."

"The last kilometer was always a little bit of a turn and you had to be patient because if you tried to go to one side the door would close and if you tried to go to the other side the door would close. It wasn't the worst start, but it wasn't the best."

What Ewan really wanted, of course, was a win to break his stage-winning drought in the Tour de France and add to the five wins he earned in 2019 and 2020: a crash on stage 3 in 2021 and his best result of eighth on the Champs-Elysées in 2022 He has also.

"The first few days were tough, but I felt good. Today I felt good again.

"It's nice to win and take the pressure off, but it's not the first time I didn't win the first sprint. But it's not the first time I didn't win the first sprint, and I'm positive I'll have more chances in the future and can win a stage here."

However, Ewan is certainly aware of the magnitude of the challenge he faces this year in a field full of strong competitors.

"I think the sprint field is much better than last year. All the teams are super strong, so it's not like a normal classic race where one team leads out and everyone is fighting for the back of that team," Ewan said.

"I don't know who to follow right now. In my first few years in the Tour, there was always one team that was the strongest and if my team was gone, I would just follow that team, but now it's a little too confusing and I don't know who to follow.

But the 28-year-old and other sprinters won't have to wait long for their next opportunity to challenge, as the fast men are expected to finish on the Nogaro circuit on stage 4.