2017 Abu Dhabi Tour, 23 to 26 Feb

[Valv.Piti]

You could see Ewan's leg still there lying when the camera focused on Kittel after the finish.

Does not look good for Caleb :sad:

Unsure if Ewan crossed the line - My brief glimpse indicated a pelvis/hip injury.

Whilst one never likes to see any sportsperson seriously injured; this may end up being a blessing for his team and its planning.

Ewan out of the equation for the Giro means NOT banking on being one rider down by half distance; NOT having to divert significant manpower from your prime GC focus on sprint wins. They werent going to send him to the Tour and with all 3 GC men down for the Vuelta, they aren't going to also send a resource-greedy bunch sprinter.

At this point I am convinced that Caleb Ewan is sleeping with your wife.

I second this. Seems a bit over the top.

 

[yaco]

Ewan cleared of damage to his shoulder - Will try to race stage 2.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Pure sprinters are here. Good weather, a course that suits their characteristics. Not everyone's favorite genre of rider - but they exist and this suits them much better than Omloop. They'd have an extremely hard time competing there.

The GC field here is as good as any GT. Fingers crossed for a showdown between Quintana and AC. It should happen imo.

Of course, but it had to be said: And it's sad.

I hope that Berto is OK.

 

[claude cat]

Re:

Ewan cleared of damage to his shoulder - Will try to race stage 2.

Good news.

 

[Kazistuta]

Re: Re:

Of course, but it had to be said: And it's sad.

Did it really?

Where's your own favorite, speaking of the matter?

My point is: Cycling is more specialised these days, you can't expect (bigger) riders to line up for races that don't suit them except for when they need race training. I can't really see the big deal in not-so-versatile sprinters opting out of Omloop, KBK etc. - just like I understand why Pinot doesn't take part.

 

[Scarponi]

Ewan?

 

[Scarponi]

Ewan celebrated too early I think

 

[Pricey_sky]

Great sprint, Ewan celebrated and got mugged by Kittel!

 

[kingjr]

Ewan?

Zabel!

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Wauw, Kittel came fast from behind

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Ewan celebrated too early I think

He might have held on if he didn't sit up and threw his bike instead. Lesson learnt the hard way I guess.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Ewan looks to have taken a step forward this year. Considering the crash yesterday he looks very fast

 

[portugal11]

Ewan is very strong in the early races. Let's wait to see how strong he is compared to a top cav, top sagan, top greipel,etc in the middle of the season

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re: Re:

Ewan celebrated too early I think

He might have held on if he didn't sit up and threw his bike instead. Lesson learnt the hard way I guess.

I believe he tought that the first line (with sponsors) or so was the actual finish line.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Ewan celebrated too early I think

He might have held on if he didn't sit up and threw his bike instead. Lesson learnt the hard way I guess.

I believe he tought that the first line (with sponsors) or so was the actual finish line.

Yeah, could be that. And then it dawned on him as Kittel edged past.

Great credit to both Ewan and Kittel though. We see some riders down tools the days after a crash and have a ready made excuse for not performing; both of them really stepped up though.

 

[yaco]

Apologised to his team over twitter - Not convinced his half celebration stopped him winning, as his Kittel motored over the last 30 metres.

 

[Squire]

Who was the second-to-last lead-out guy for Orica? Was it Alex Edmondson, or maybe Luka Mezgec? Whoever it was, he was mightily impressive.

 

[SafeBet]

Just watched the last km and man what a sprint by Kittel. Amazing.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

Who was the second-to-last lead-out guy for Orica? Was it Alex Edmondson, or maybe Luka Mezgec? Whoever it was, he was mightily impressive.

I think it was Mezgec, but I'm not sure.

 

[Flamin]

Must have been Mezgec indeed.

Impressive sprint by Kittel, while Greipel was being more concerned than anything about not crashing.

 

[Poursuivant]

Kittel came from so far back here, very impressive.

 

[The Hegelian]

Despite the error, that's a pretty huge step forward for Ewan. In the Giro last year, in an admittedly great sprint field, he wasn't really in the frame against Kittel, Greipal etc.

I'd say this sprint was the first time he's really proven he can win against the big three. The haters are gonna have to concede that he's the real deal at 23.

 

[Red Rick]

23 ain't that young for a sprinter

 

[kingjr]

McEwen, Greipel, Petacchi would be a few examples of sprinters who were nobodies at that age (on the big stage)

 

[The Hegelian]

Re:

23 ain't that young for a sprinter

Whether that's young or not for a sprinter is not the point; the point is that at his present age, he's able to genuinely compete with the big three.

I for one thought he was still a few years off that, and possibly might never have the horsepower/talent to do so. Maybe to develop into more of a slight uphill sprint specialist, against Matthews, Degenkolb et al.

But that embarrassing 2nd place was less than half a wheel to an on form Kittel, ahead of Cav, on a flat track, in a sprinters race. It is what it is - Ewan has arrived.