All eyes are on Tadej Pogachar in the Giro d'Italia, but Robbie McEwen can't wait for the sprint finishes over the next three weeks. The Australian won 12 stages of the Giro d'Italia in his professional career and has worked as a television sprint and race analyst since his retirement in 2012.

The 2024 Giro d'Italia will feature many of the world's best sprinters, but only Jasper Philipsen, Mark Cavendish, and Dylan Groenevegwen will be absent to focus on the Tour de France.

This year's Corsa Rosa will start with two testing stages in Piedmont over the weekend, followed by six or seven sprints.

For those who are tired of Pogachar's dominance or think the future of men's racing is bleak, MacEwen believes the Giro d'Italia sprints are the perfect antidote. While traveling to Europe from his home on Australia's Gold Coast, Australian MacEwen was once again part of the Eurosport commentary team, speaking to Cycling News and other media outlets.

"The sprint battles at the Giro d'Italia will be great," he said.

"If you go back to when I was racing, there were a lot of sprints in the Giro, but (Mario) Cipollini or (Alessandro) Petacchi dominated because of the lead-out train. Now everything is more complicated. I see the sprinters really fighting evenly in this year's race and it is always the most exciting sprint. Every day is full of surprises."

MacEwen's first Giro win came in Strasbourg in 2002. His last Giro victory came in 2007 in Bosa, Sardinia, defeating Paolo Bettini and Petacchi.

McEwen raced BMX bikes as a boy and used his speed and small frame to challenge power sprinters such as Cipollini, Petacchi, Erik Zabel, Tom Boonen, and Thor Hushovd from 1996 to 2012. He often dove through open gaps along the barriers and raced to victory. McEwen was fearless, but he was also a skilled biker. Throughout his career, he won 116 races, mostly in high-speed sprints.

He competed in the Giro d'Italia 10 times, but never finished the Corsa Rosa because he needed to stay strong and fresh for the subsequent Tour de France. It left him with a sense of unfinished business.

"I loved the sprints of the Giro. For some riders, the more chaos, the better, and I loved it," McEwen enthused.

"The Tour de France is a huge beast of a race, and you have to finish on some pretty big roads.

"I think that makes it a really interesting race and levels the playing field between the riders who are strong in a straight line and those who can actually race and fight for places.

The sprinter start list for the 2024 Giro d'Italia includes Jonathan Millan (Lidl Trek), Olaf Kooij (Visma Ries a Bike), Fabio Jacobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Caleb Yuan ( Jayco Aroura), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling), Kayden Groves (Alpecin Deceuninck), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche Wanty), Danny Van Poppel ( Bora-Hansgrohe), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), Juan Sebastian Morano (UAE Team Emirates).

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Kiwi Lawrence Pitti and teammate Luis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech), and Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease-a-Bike) may turn heads on a hilly stage that could end in a sprint.

"I think there were 12 or 13 riders who could have won any of the sprint stages, I've never seen that many in one race before. No one rider is going to dominate the others. Every time, there will be an element of luck, skill, and speed involved," MacEwen suggested.

With his extensive knowledge of sprinting, McEwen has already done some research for the upcoming three weeks.

"Like Tim Mellier, a man who always understands confusion, even if it disappears deep into the Grand Tour. He just finds the gaps, follows the right wheels, and has really good instincts and confidence," MacEwen praised the Soudal-Quick Step sprinter.

"I'm also looking forward to seeing how well Caleb Yuan will do in the Giro. The beginning of the season was really complicated. He started well, but then he got sick and seemed to be rushing back too quickly. He has trained at altitude and won the Giro.

"The Aussies have Kayden Groves. It's a shame Sam Welsford wasn't selected, but for Danny Van Poppel it's a chance to showcase himself."

Having seen Jonathan Milano confirm his sprinting ability at last year's Giro d'Italia, MacEwen has even higher hopes for the Italian, who has moved to Lidl Trek. Milano has a strong lead-out train that includes Jasper Styven, Ed Zaunce, and lead-out man and track chaser Simone Consonni.

"Milan's limits are endless. His engine is ridiculously huge.

"He surprised everyone last year. I think he still has room to improve. He has some rough spots in his sprints. When he can do everything smoothly, he will be even faster."

McEwen has never finished the Giro d'Italia, but he is well aware of the mental and physical exhaustion that often comes with running the Giro and Tour in the same year. He expected Pogachar to win the Giro d'Italia, but with a hint of caution.

"I don't remember a rider being so much in contention to win. For him not to win, something really strange would have to happen," McEwen suggested. 'If all goes well, if there are no accidents or illnesses, he will win. He will win by as much as he wants to win."

"I think the other guys will go into the race believing it's a race for second place. But the great thing about the Giro is that every time you think you know what's going to happen, something happens."

McEwen has simple advice for Pogachar, who is looking to do the Giro/Tour double: "You have to be ready for anything.

"It's a long way to the end of the Tour, so be conservative in the Giro," MacEwen warned.

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