Caleb Ewan pulls out of Giro d'Italia following second stage win

ByBen Grounds

Published 23/05/2019 at 08:12 GMT

Caleb Ewan will press ahead with his preparations for the Tour de France after announcing his withdrawal from the Giro d'Italia following his second stage win of the three-week grand tour.

Ewan won stage 11 in a sprint finish on Wednesday ahead of Arnaud Demare and Pascal Ackermann.

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The Lotto Soudal rider secured two stage wins in Italy and believes now is the perfect time to turn his attentions to mounting an assault at further stage wins at the Tour.

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The Sydney rider won the eighth stage of the Giro on Monday and has had two other podium finishes in this year's race. He's also narrowly missed third place to finish fourth twice - on stage five in Terracina and stage 10 in Modena.

Ewan said: "I am happy that I came to the Giro, the succession of the long and sometimes challenging stages will have done me good, condition-wise.

Of course, I am going home with a great feeling. I came into the Giro and I really wanted to win one stage. To get two is more than I expected, so I am really satisfied with that and I am happy with how the team rode as well.

"I finished inside the top four on seven occasions. On day two, our lead-out was perfect, two days later I was beaten by a strong Carapaz in Frascati and on day eight, I could raise my arms in the air for the first time.

"This Giro was also very important to optimise the collaboration with Jasper De Buyst and Roger Kluge and we certainly got the chance to do so. Besides, the rest of the team also cooperated very well.

“I think it makes sense that the sprinters leave the Giro prematurely. From now on, there are virtually only tough stages left, so not very suited to us.

"I think that the organisation prefers to have to best sprinters at the start. Although they do not finish the Giro, it still guarantees some nice battles in the flat stages.

"I will take some days of rest now and then go on a training camp to prepare for the Tour.”

With the Giro d'Italia now heading into the mountains, Ewan joins fellow sprinter Elia Viviani in pulling out, but Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) have opted to remain in contention.

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