UAE Tour - Caleb Ewan: I hope this is the beginning of a great year
Feb 28 2021 05:07 am CET
Image: Lotto Soudal logo
Lotto Soudal's Caleb Ewan has taken the victory of the last stage at the UAE Tour, his first win of the season.
The last stage of the Emirati race came down again to a bunch sprint and this time it was time for the Australian to claim the victory as the past three fast days were won by Mathieu van der Poel and Sam Bennett -the latter celebrating twice. Ewan took the wheel of the Irishman of Deceuninck-Quick-Step and crossed the finish line in the first position.
"We came to the UAE Tour to win a stage and today, there was only one more opportunity left," said the Australian. "It feels great to eventually achieve that goal during this last day of racing. My last few sprints were quite average, so I felt a fair amount of pressure to perform well today.
"The team went above and beyond to deliver me in a good position. I entered the final pretty fresh, which was in my opinion crucial to do a good sprint in the end. I wasn't specifically looking for Bennett's wheel, instead we tried to focus on ourselves and delivered the best lead-out possible. Roger Kluge maybe went a little too late as we started to get swamped. I had to jump from his wheel quite early as I saw Sam Bennett coming on the right with a fair bit of speed. Luckily, there was some room for me to go there as it was basically the only way out. Once I got past his wheel, I could launch my sprint and finish the job.
"I haven't been this far in the season without a win in my whole career, so it definitely is a bit of a relief to start the cycling season in Europe with a win under the belt. I hope this is the beginning of a great year as I have big plans for the season. So, it means a lot to start off with a win."
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