Caleb Ewan and a legacy restored 🇦🇺
One of the best sprinters of his generation retires mid-season
103 days. That’s how long the relationship between Caleb Ewan and Ineos Grenadiers lasted.
103 days, two wins, seven days of actual racing, and in the end, a heartfelt goodbye from the Australian after a decade of success in the world’s most brutal sport.
One day, we’ll find out precisely what transpired since his DNS on stage 3 of the Itzulia Basque Country in April, and what pushed the 30-year-old towards what looks like a premature retirement. We’ll find out why Astana blew so hot and then so cold in their pursuit to lure the rider away from Jayco last summer, why there was no way back for him at the Australian team after that, and just how close he came to retiring at the end of 2024 before prolonging his career for those precious 103 extra days.
Those questions are for another day, and it’s only right to acknowledge the fine career that Ewan built. Sixty-five wins is no mean feat, even by modern standards, and the 30-year-old has positioned himself as Australia's second-best male sprinter of all time behind Robbie McEwen. Not bad for a rider who many considered washed up, not once, but at several points along the way.
People have short memories, but when Ewan burst onto the scene with the Jayco-AIS Cycling in 2013, he was quickly entrenched as a future star. It wasn’t just hype. There was reason to be excited following two superb years in the junior ranks, culminating in a batch of national titles and second in the junior Worlds in Valkenburg behind a certain Matej Mohorič.