Ewan beats ‘stinking’ heat to grab Tour lead
R ISI NG Aust ra l ia n spr i nter Ca leb Ewan defied a heat wave to claim the open i ng stage of t he UCI sea sonopening Tou r Dow n Under i n t he South Australian wine-growing town of Ly ndoch yesterday.
Ewan, 22, surged in the last 200 metres to hold off Dutchman Danny van Poppell and Ireland’s Sam Bennett to win the 118-kilometre stage in three hours, 24 minutes and 18 seconds.
The Orica-Scott rider will wear the ochre leader’s jersey into today’s second stage over 148.5km from Stirling in the Adelaide Hills to the town of Paracombe.
Officials had earlier decided to shorten the stage from 145 kilometres as temperatures climbed above 40 Celsius during the race.
“It was really stinking hot out there today,” Ewan said.
“I think everyone felt the heat. It was a good idea for the race to be shortened because we were just rolling around out there in the sun and it can’t be too good for you.
“I’m just happy to get that win. It was a really close one in the end.”
The race sta r ted in t he inner-cit y Adela ide suburb of Unley wit h t he temperature already reaching 39 Celsius. The young Austra lian may only be wearing t he leader’s jersey for one day, however, wit h today’s stage to take place in the hills around Adelaide and four-time champion and OricaScott teammate Simon Gerrans only eight seconds behind in t he overa ll standings.
Temperatures are forecast to drop dra matica l ly for today’s stage as a cold front moves through the region overnight.