Greipel quits after stage win0:39
Cycling: German sprint king Andre Greipel has pulled out of the Giro D'Italia after winning stage 12, ahead of some difficult mountain stages.
YOUNG sprinter Caleb Ewan has signed off on his second major tour, the Giro d’Italia, after just failing to notch his second win at road cycling’s elite level.
The 21 year old Orica-GreenEDGE prodigy finished a close second behind German star Andre Griepel on the dead-flat 182km 12th stage from Noale to the northern Italian beach resort of Bibione after miscalculating where he needed to be in the bunch finish, a sign that for all his promise he is still inexperienced in the big-time.
“We have known for a long time that he is fast but that is only one part of sprinting,” said team director Matt White, who was nonetheless pleased with Ewan’s career progression.
It was still the only podium finish for any OGE rider, or any Australian, for the race so far.
With the event now going into the mountains for the final week, which would be a challenge too far for Ewan, he has gone home early, as has the far more experienced Griepel, who has now won 20 stages of the three big tours of Italy, France and Spain.
A prolific winner in Australia, including five stages of the Jayco Herald sun Tour over the past two years, Ewan’s career highlight was a stage win at last year’s Spanish Vuelta on his grand tour debut, but he will not do that race this year and is not in contention for selection for the Tour de France in July.
He will go to the tours of Luxembourg and Poland and perhaps to the world championships in Qatar in August, where the flat course would give him a realistic chance of causing serious damage.
He said he was disappointed not to win a stage of the Giro - he also had a fourth place - but satisfied he had taken his career to another level.
“I feel great but it is important I don’t dig myself a hole I can’t get out of for the rest of the season,” he said.
White said Ewan’s progression was exciting. “But there is a lot still to go,” he said. “People compare him to (former Australian champion sprinter) Robbie McEwen, but he’s not Robbie. It’s easy to make those comparisons but that’s a simple way of looking at it.
“He’s not Robbie McEwen and he’s not (English star sprinter) Mark Cavendish, he’s Caleb Ewan, a different athlete, a different personality and in a different era of cycling.
“We are very happy with the way he is going.”
OGE’s Colombian climber Esteban Chaves remains in eighth place, 2min 43sec behind leader Bob Jungels, with the Australian team quietly confident he will unleash a major challenge in the mountains.
Ron.reed@news.com.au
@Reedrw
