Bring on the Tour Down Under says confident Ewan

Australian rider looking forward to performing well on home soil.

Neil Martin 16.01.2017

Caleb Ewan says he is going into the Tour Down Under and the 2017 season on a real high after winning the People’s Choice Classic in Adelaide on Sunday.

Sydneysider Ewan, 22, got the perfect lead out from new Orica-Scott team-mate Roger Kluge to beat world champion Peter Sagan in a sprint to the line.

The Tour Down Under gets underway on Tuesday with a first stage that sets off from the centre of Adelaide at 10.30am and then goes 145km until the finish in Lyndoch.

And Ewan, rightly known as the Pocket Rocket, is hoping to do really well on home soil after securing the victory on Sunday.

“I have a whole lot of confidence going into the next week of racing,” Ewan said after his People’s Choice Classic win.

“The team delivered me perfectly with a full lead out and then Roger dropped me off right at the front, which was the first time I had to touch the wind.”

The instantly successful partnership with Kluge promises good things for Ewan this season as he attempts to build on an amazing last 18 months that has seen him win a stage of the Vuelta a Espana and really make an impact in the pro ranks.

“I’m really happy it started off so well with Roger,” Ewan added. “I don’t think it usually happens like that but all I had to do was follow him.”

The opening stage of the 2017 Tour Down Under will be shown from 12.30pm AEDST on Tuesday on Channel Nine, with live streaming on Nine’s Wide World of Sports. A highlights programme will also be broadcast on Nine at 11pm.