Ewan left with too much to do
AUSTRALIAN sprint ace Caleb Ewan and Italian cycling star Elia Viviani have had a dramatic reversal of fortunes in stage one of the Tour Down Under.
Two days after Ewan won the Down Under Classic, he was nowhere to be seen in the sprint finish yesterday at Port Adelaide.
Viviani unleashed a superbly timed sprint to win the stage, after a crash took him out of contention at the Classic.
The Italian ace also takes the overall lead for the first time at the Tour Down Under after winning a stage in the 2018 race.
“When you start the WorldTour season with the stage win and the leader’s jersey here in Tour Down Under, it’s the best way,” he said.
Ewan was primed for stage one, but the Lotto-Soudal team leader was never in the hunt for the final sprint.
“I was constantly in the last ‘k’ trying to move up,” a frustrated Ewan said. the worst start in A-League history in Round 8, and have lost all four games since, but Joyce scoffed at any suggestions of a cakewalk.
“We’ve worked on a couple
“I tried to start sprinting with a couple of hundred metres to go but I knew, as soon as I started, that I didn’t have that much left.”
Three-time world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) was another who was not sighted.
The temperature hit the 40s in the hills. While a sea breeze took some of the edge off at the finish, it was still in the high 30s.
Today’s second stage in the Barossa has been cut by 27km because of the heat. Race organisers also cut a 3.4km finishing loop out of yesterday’s stage.
There were concerns that splits in the race might create traffic problems on the loop, with riders out the back potentially forced to stop before the stage finish and wait in the heat.
The first breakaway of the 21st Tour turned into an ANZAC alliance — Australians Jason Lea (UniSA) and Michael Storer (Sunweb) and New Zealander Patrick Bevin (CCC Team).
But the peloton always kept their advantage manageable and they were caught with about 40km left. of things, so we’ll just look at that (whether de Laet plays up front again),’’ he said.
“We’ve got to juggle around what numbers we’ve got. We’ve not got massive choices, massive numbers — certainly not senior players, so we’ve got to mix and match a bit over the next three games, which are important.
“But all our focus is the Central Coast game, we’ve got to win that.
“You’re certainly not overlooking them because we’ve watched the last few games and they’ve played really well.
“They dominated the game against league winners Syd- ney FC until the sending off and they played well at Wellington, a bit of a tweak, different personnel and younger boys playing, there’s a freedom about the place
“They have nothing to fear, nothing to lose, playing on the front foot. We’ve got to be at our absolute max to go there and win.”
Riley McGree will play despite limping off in the opening minutes of the Brisbane Roar win, although everpresent and versatile defender Harrison Delbridge is suspended, offering right-back Dylan Pierias a rare squad opening.
Joyce hoped Berenguer, who will start on the bench, would play a key role in the run home.
“It’s like a new signing for us really,’’ he said.
“He was making more of an impact in games, but then he got struck down by injury, so you’re looking for him to come back and continue, and make an impact in this second half of the season.
“He’s worked really hard. He’s a good pro who during the time he’s been injured, he’s pushed himself.
“If you do the right things, live the lifestyle the right way, you push yourself extra in the gym, in early, then he works hard on the running.”