Caleb Yuan's (Jayco Alura) last Grand Tour victory came in the 2021 Giro d'Italia, and the Australian sprinter will close the loop at the Giro this May, hoping he can finally put an end to his three-year-long thirst for success. He will return to Italy.
Currently away from Grand Tour stage wins, Ewan had a very good relationship with the Giro d'Italia, with five sprint victories in his three participations in 2017, 2019, and 2021.
After 2022, however, things got stranger for the Australian, who added just one win to his total of 61 in 2023, his worst season since turning pro in 2015.
It was time to get things back on track. And this time, the 29-year-old told reporters on Friday that he heads into the Giro with two goals in mind: the first is to finish the entire race, something he has never attempted before because of his obligation to rest before the Tour de France (which he will not compete in this year).
Ewan also has fellow sprinter Dylan Groenewegen on his team, so when he penned in last winter to make a return to the team that inspired him to turn pro, Jayco Aroura, after five years with Lot Dostony, the 2024 He explained that returning to the Tour de France was not an option at all. When I spoke with Jayco at the end of last year, Dylan said he wanted to be in the Tour, so that was always the plan, and I was content to skip the Tour and go to the Giro."
"I was very happy with that," he said.
"The good thing is that I get to try to finish the Giro for the first time. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time and there's a sprint on the final stage, so that's a bonus."
"So it was a very easy decision and the Giro is my main focus this year."
This year, Jayco Aroura is not putting his Giro eggs in one sprint-type basket. Eddie Dunbar is the GC main man, and Filippo Zana has already shown in last year's Val di Zoldo that he is capable of winning the Giro's high mountain stages.
Thus, the team has multiple objectives, but Ewan will have great support in the final dash, with veterans Max Warscheid and Luca Medjeck handling the all-important lead-out.
"Luka is really important. We need a strong lead-out team and he is super experienced. We ran together for a few years before I left the team in 2018 and I can trust him," Ewan said. 'He's done a great job the last few years, too.'
"With Max Valscheidt, I know I can rely on them to make sure I'm in position to try to win some stages."
But as far as winning in 2024 is concerned, Ewan's victory this season came on the opening stage of the Tour of Oman. But the Australian sprinter says his latest numbers in training show that he is on a promising upward condition curve.
"I had a good training camp and I feel good. My numbers are similar to what they have been when I have been doing my best. I'll have to start racing and actually see the form of my rivals. But so far I'm feeling really good, so let's see what happens when we start."
"I'm really happy to be back in Jayco. I feel more at home than usual, especially being on an English-speaking team and being on my home team.
"If there is any team that can get me back to my best, this is the only team."
With so many pieces of the winning puzzle in place, the key question mark as to what Ewan will accomplish in his sixth Giro d'Italia is, logically, how his form compares to his rivals. How is it? However, he already has 11 stage wins in Grand Tours, and as Ewan himself said on Friday, "I have nothing to prove, but I want to be able to win more often like I did a few years ago."
"Now that I am in the right environment to do so, I can only compare my previous form.
"You always don't know until the race starts, but I'm feeling really good at the moment, so I think I can definitely fight with the best."
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