After a nasty falling out with Lotto-Dstny, Caleb Ewan has broken his contract with the team and signed for Jayco AlUla, where he will be a team mate of Ireland's Eddie Dunbar. Ewan, who has won stages in all three Grand Tours, was the subject of critical public comments from the Lotto-Dstny boss, Stephane Heulot, earlier this year.
He questioned the rider's commitment and mental approach when he abandoned the Tour de France, saying though Ewan had a year left to run on his contract, he could leave the team, adding he had "expected more" from the Australian.
"We saw in the last sprint he wasn't in it any more," Heulot said on the Tour. "His lead-out man was right next to him. That's disrespectful to his lead-out. I can't accept that. The lead-outs take crazy risks to be there. I can't do anything, it's up to him to sort it out, I don't know how to handle this kind of character. I've never seen that. He asks for a lot from his team, it's a lot for him, always for him."
Advertisement
Ewan’s agent, Jason Bakker, described the comments as “staggering” and “disgusting", adding his rider would not be intimidated.
Ewan did not race again for two months after the Tour and of the four races he has ridden since then, he has finished only one, placing 32nd in Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen last month. And now Jayco AlUla has confirmed he has signed, and will ride for it from January 1st next.
Ewan made his debut for the team - then Orica GreenEDGE - as a stagiaire in 2014. He remained with the team until the end of 2018, before joining Lotto-Soudal, which has since become Lotto-Dstny.
Related News
His signing for Team Jayco AlUla will involve an initial effort to simply get back to winning ways. Assuming he can achieve that, his inclusion in the team would likely see it focus more of its resources on supporting Ewan and Groenewegen in Grand Tours.
That would involve splitting team resources between the sprinting and climbing groups in the squad. Jayco AlUla also has climbers like Dunbar and Simon Yates on its books as well as likely Grand Tour stage winners Filippo Zana and new signing Mauro Schmid.
“It means a lot to me to come back to GreenEDGE," Ewan said. "I had a lot of success with the squad in the past, it’s obviously where I started my professional career, so I have really good memories from being with GreenEDGE those first few years.
"For me, it will be nice being back in the Australian culture and English-speaking environment. Being an Australian and riding for an Australian team is very special. There are a lot of riders and staff that I have worked with before, many of my old teammates remain, so it will be great to work with everyone again and I think the transition back will be smooth.
"I’m definitely coming back to the team as a more experienced rider, in the last few years I’ve won the biggest race of my career and I think I’ve developed a lot as a rider and also as a leader. When I joined the team initially, I was only 19 or 20, so I was very young. I learnt a lot from the experienced guys that were already there and used that going forward in my career.
"I have developed as a person and as a rider and I look forward to coming back in more of a leadership role. It will be great to be able to help the younger Australians riders too, to reach their potential and in that way also give back to the team. The main thing for me will be getting back to winning ways and I hope to bring a lot of success to the team. It will be a strong roster for 2024.”
