With his Tour Down Under winning streak broken on the opening stage of the 2018 edition of the race, Caleb Ewan bounced back in style in Stirling.
The Mitchelton-Scott rider took his best stage win yet at the Australian race, powering past Bora-Hansgrohe's Jay McCarthy and world champion Peter Sagan. Lead-out man Daryl Impey held on for second place, erasing the memories of defeat 24 hours prior in Lyndoch.
"It is probably more exciting winning on a stage you are unsure about going into," said Ewan, who also moves into the leader's ochre jersey.
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"By this time last year I had a few wins by the time we got to the second stage. Maybe my confidence went down a little bit so it was great to see the team's confidence didn't go down at all and they backed me on a finish that probably didn't suit me so well."
Ewan's stage 1 loss to Andre Greipel was a new experience at the race, having won the six previous sprints he'd contested. Of his now seven career stage wins, Stirling was arguably the hardest of the lot, with the added advantage of taking an early season win over Sagan.
"To get one up on him here in a finish that suits him is a bonus," said Ewan, who beat Sagan and John Degenkolb to a Vuelta a España stage win on a hilly finish as a neo-pro in 2015. "I think winning on these harder stages is what I need. Even the flatter stages of the Tour [de France] are going to be pretty tough."
Impey impact
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