It was a long wait for Caleb Ewan after stage 1 of the UAE Tour to find out whether or not he had scooped up his first WorldTour level win in almost a year. The Lotto Dstny rider worked his way into the lead group in a crosswind strewn day and then in the sprint crossed the line alongside Tim Merlier in a finish that was ultimately so close that even the slow motion video and photo finish didn’t make it clear who had won.
The Australian initially threw his arm in the air after his quickly making ground in his dash from behind Merlier’s wheel in the final metres – ‘when in doubt claim it’ Ewan said jokingly on instagram – but the uncertainty soon grew. The pair were again alongside each other as they leaned close to the screen in the podium area when the slow motion replay was showing, straining to see who might be the victor in a race that came down to millimetres.
In the end it was Merlier, but after a day where Ewan had made all the right moves, there was every reason for a positive outlook despite such a close miss of the top step.
“But what can I say about it…? I wouldn’t do anything different, really,” said Ewan in a team media release. “I was almost fast enough but apparently not quite enough.”
“Obviously, it’s disappointing to miss out on the stage win with such a narrow margin. But the main thing to take away is the fact that I was up there, which shows the good form I’m in and it’s only promising for the next sprint stages this week.”
The stage which started at Al Dhafra Castle was ripped apart in the crosswinds early, with a group of around 20 riders with some serious firepower among it splitting off out the front in the opening kilometres.
“It was a very tough day out with the echelons happening straight away …,” said Ewan. “Only one or two kilometres in, I punctured and was forced to go for a wheel change, right when all the action started and splits occurred. I was way at the back but eventually my teammates helped me in making my way through the groups and getting back to the first chasing group.”
That chase ultimately made the junction with around 50km to go and Ewan linked up with his Lotto Dstny teammate Jarrad Drizners, a rider he had also depended on during the Australian summer while racing with the national team. The peloton was closing behind but there was no sitting back and letting the advantage disappear.
“Just when we thought it would all come back together we managed to split the…
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