Ewan scorching Australian summer Down Under

It’s always hot in South Australia during the summer month of January, but this year Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) is turning up the heat with a dominant month which includes six wins in three weeks.

In fact, two days after sprinting to victory at the 51-kilometre People’s Choice Classic criterium, the freshly crowned Aussie crit champ claimed the first WorldTour race of the season – the second of his career – at the opening stage of the six-day 2016 Santos Tour Down Under on Tuesday, Jan. 19, in Adelaide.

Ewan proved to be the man as the capped off the 130.8km race from Prospect to Lyndoch with a relatively easy sprint victory over compatriot Mark Renshaw (Team Dimension Data), Dutchman Wouter Wippert (Cannondale Pro Cycling), Slovenian Marko Kump (Lampre-Merida) and Briton’s Adam Blythe (Tinkoff-Saxo) – a teammate of Ewan last year at GreenEdge. The win moves Ewan into the ochre leaders jersey for the time being with a four second advantage due to two sprint time bonuses.

“I felt good all day and they (Orica-GreenEdge team) backed me right from the start,” said Ewan, who also gave props to three-time race winner and teammate Simon Gerrans for “sharing the team” with him. “To win a road race you have to be very conservative during the day, the victory usually goes to the one who’s got the freshest legs and the best team in the end. 

“It’ll be a really proud moment for me to race in the ochre jersey tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve never led a World Tour race before and to do it in my own country means a lot to me.”

Team sports director Matt White told Eurosport in November that he only targeted a handful of wins for the 21-year-old second year pro from New South Wales. It was the same goal given to Ewan in 2015, before he ended up with 11 wins – including a stage 5 victory at the Vuelta a España in August. Other wins included two stages at the Herald Sun Tour (UCI 2.1), two at Le Tour de Langkawi (2.HC) and victory at the Vuelta a La Rioja (1.1), as well as four stages at Tour de Korea (2.1) in which he also took home general classification.

But this year White expects more top-level (i.e., WorldTour) results.

“For Caleb, I think a pretty realistic goal will be five WorldTour wins and a stage in a Grand tour,” said White. “This year he had one WorldTour win and it was a stage in the Vuelta and that was a very impressive one.

“This year it was clearly about development and getting him confident in the sprint group around him because under-23 (U23) sprinting is very, very different to WorldTour sprinting.

“There were some races like Tour de Korea where he cleaned up, which he should have, but it was the harder races like Poland and Spain that really opened his eyes and will make him a more successful rider in 2016.”

Ewan believes no one has higher expectations for his career than himself.

“I think I probably have higher expectations than Matty anyway, so it’s nothing new or anything like that,” admitted Ewan, who has set his sights on a “stage or two” at the Giro d’Italia in May. “I want to achieve that anyway, so it’s not like I have any added pressure placed on me so it doesn’t really effect me to be honest.

“The reality is that I’m stepping up in my races and doing more WorldTour races this year,” he continued. “I think I just have to lift more than I had to last year, but I’ve got a full season under my belt now and I’m a bit stronger and obviously a bit more mature, so I think this season will be pretty good.”

So far Ewan is delivering on all fronts and the future looks bright for the 2014 U23 UCI Road Worlds silver medallist. Three-time Canadian Olympian and 2012 Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal (Trek-Segafredo)  agrees, and admits he has been blown away by Ewan’s performances so far this season.

“At the moment, Ewan is in top form,” Hesjedal told Eurosport after the race. “This guy is an incredible sprinter and he’s just going to continue to evolve. What is he, like 21?

“Who knows how far he can go?”