ProTeam Caleb Ewan: “The goal is always to win as many stages as possible.”

In his fifth participation at the Giro, Lotto Soudal rider Caleb Ewan is again aiming for sprint victories. The fast Australian has already five stage victories at the Tour of Italy on his palmares but he is of course hungry for more.

“The goal before the start of a Grand Tour is always to win as many stages as possible”, begins Caleb Ewan. “But with guys like Cavendish, Demare, Gaviria and Nizzolo at the start it’s a fierce field of competitors. And I am obviously forgetting some more names. So it definitely won’t be easy to win a stage but the battles will be entertaining to watch, that’s for sure. I feel pretty good and had a good build-up to the Giro with the Tour of Turkey and a training block at home. I think I am one of the fastest riders at the start but we have to wait and see if that’s the case when we start racing.”

Caleb Ewan isn’t too sure if the opening stage from Budapest to Visegrád is also suited to the fast guys.

“We did a recon of the finishing climb. It’s pretty difficult but maybe a bit easier than I thought it would be. Still, it remains five kilometres of climbing.  In any case, I have nothing to lose and will do everything I can. I guess the pure sprinters won’t contest the stage win but a guy like me that sometimes climbs well can survive but it’ll definitely be difficult. I wouldn’t say it’s a golden opportunity for me to seize the maglia rosa because normally, the climb is probably too hard for me.”

In the sprint preparation, Caleb Ewan will miss his trusted lead-out Jasper De Buyst, who fractured his collarbone due to a crash at the Tour of Turkey closing stage.

“It’s a shame not to have Jasper here but with Roger Kluge, Michael Schwarzmann and Rüdiger Selig we have plenty of guys with tons of experience who can guide me towards the final sprint. I am confident that it could be a nice Giro. In any case, we will do our utmost and then we’ll see where that takes us.”

Image: Vanvid Multimedia.