The Caleb Ewan Thread

[yaco]

Have to say this has come as a shock. Mezgec and Kluge will be super unhappy. Can add that MS have been dismayed at the attitude of Ewan's manager.

 

[yaco]

Will write a longer post tonight but its safe to say their a few agendas at play.

 

[DNP-Old]

Devastated is an understatement of how I feel about @MitcheltonSCOTT’s decision to leave me at home this July. I was on track to being more than ready for my TDF debut. So much hard work has gone into this from my sprint team and I to be ready for our big goal this year.

He gone.

 

[Lequack]

Very slap in your face decision indeed. You don't just change your focus two weeks before the start without good reason. And now the pressure being solely on Adam to perform is perhaps not the best thing. I think part of what made Simon good at the giro is not having the pressure, since they also had Chaves.

 

[rick james]

New team for him it is then.

 

[Jspear]

I’m really interested to know why. This is weird.

 

[classicomano]

There were rumous of him going to Lotto Soudal right? Probably already a done deal and Mitchelton sidelining him because of it.

 

[movingtarget]

I think Ewan was moving on regardless.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

I’m really interested to know why. This is weird.

Whatever the official reason is, the real reason is almost certainly that he hasn’t signed a contract and his agent is offering him to Lotto Soudal.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Sounds very much like he is moving on next season and so the team decided to drop him. Still a strange decision as he’d have had a great chance at a stage win or two. Adam Yates would easily be around the top 10 even without a strong team around him.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

This is really weird to me. A huge fuckup MS I think. I don't see Adam Yates finishing higher than 5th or 6th.

Ewan was a good chance of stage wins

 

[Jspear]

Re: Re:

I’m really interested to know why. This is weird.

Whatever the official reason is, the real reason is almost certainly that he hasn’t signed a contract and his agent is offering him to Lotto Soudal.

I agree. Although CN brought up a fair point. Matthews was moving on and they still brought him.

 

[yaco]

This will be a longer post - The genesis of this decision goes back to 2017 along with Mitchelton Scott positioning themselves for the future - It's well known that the 'Leaders of the team' were unhappy with the the GC's they were assigned to ride - It's well known that Chaves didn't want to the ride the TDF in 2017, while Yates x 1 wanted to ride the TDF, while Ewan wanted to ride the TDF, though to be fair Ewan wasn't ready for the TDF in 2017 - At the end of October 2017, MS already decided what GT's their leaders would ride in 2017 - In fact the Giro 2018 team was selected in October 2017, long before official routes for GT's were announced, while the TDF squad had 12 riders The team would have two strong GC teams for the Giro and the Vuelta, while the TDF would be sprint focused - It's important to stress all the leaders chose their GC's for 2018.

We have to remember that MS is an Australian team who WANT to have an Aussie as a marquee rider - I will add that IMO, MS made a mistake when they allowed Matthews to go because he could have been the Aussie MARQUEE rider The team knew it would be challenging to keep Yates x 2 and Ewan, and their preference was to keep Ewan and Yates x 1 - MS were fully aware the Australian cycling mafia were STRONGLY encouraging him to change teams, especially as MS is now more of a GC team - MS were fairly confident that EWan would stay, so riding the TDF was a carrot ( and he is ready for the race ) along with the TDF being a shopfront for new sponsors - MS has a somewhat strained relationship with Ewan's mgr ( who manages four from the team ) and they were offended when there was total silence after MS made their contract offer to Ewan - No we'll consider the contract or can you offer us better terms or we refuse the offer - This caused a rethink from MS who are now desperate to keep Yates x 2, as the team can't afford to lose 2 of their leaders - Now dropping Ewan from the team allows MS to offer a bit more support to A.Yates for this TDF and gives Yates x 2 more incentive to stay at MS.

Will add there was some behind the scenes jostling regarding the composition of the team - My understanding is Ewan wanted Kluge in the team who would be part of his sprint train and be invaluable in the TTT which caused feathers to be ruffled - Apparently A.Yates was unphased about these rumblings as he knew he had limited mountain support - I actually feel sorry for Mezgec whose based his own season around the TDF - Anyway MS will need to look for another sprinter because they have a contracted sprint team, except for Kluge for 2019 - So expect MS to try hard for an Ackermann type - Finally Ewan's failure to ride the TDF has nothing to do with him leaving the team - During their history MS always select riders even if they are leaving the team.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

I have no idea who Yates x 1 and Yates x 2 are - who not simply write S. Yates and A. Yates?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I have no idea who Yates x 1 and Yates x 2 are - who not simply write S. Yates and A. Yates?

I'm guessing yaco just means "one of the Yateses" and "both Yateses"

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

I have no idea who Yates x 1 and Yates x 2 are - who not simply write S. Yates and A. Yates?

I'm guessing yaco just means "one of the Yateses" and "both Yateses"

It's easier to write Yates x 2 than Adam and Simon - Anyway the bottom line is MS couldn't afford to lose one Yates and Ewan - Mitchelton Scott have made a pragmatic decision - Not better way to convince A.Yates to stay by making him sole leader for the TDF.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

What the...

Aight, thats a little weird to support at rider like Adam Yates 100% in such a field where he probably is like the 9th or 10th favourite when you have Ewan.

Indeed, 1 support rider more or less for Yates won't make or break his race. With the number of sprint stages Ewan would be a good bet for at least one stage win. This is honestly just shocking to me. Must be because he's leaving.

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

Ewan has probably seen enough footage of Demare's perfectly legal "closing the door" technique and decided his life is worth more than participating in some grand spectacle.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I noticed the owner of Aquablue criticising Mitchelton Scott on twitter over this and thought Christ that guy never saw a row he didn’t want to get involved in. But it turns out Ewan is married to his daughter.

 

[yaco]

Re:

I noticed the owner of Aquablue criticising Mitchelton Scott on twitter over this and thought Christ that guy never saw a row he didn’t want to get involved in. But it turns out Ewan is married to his daughter.

Expect a tweet soon from Richie Porte - NO love lost between him and MS - Yet Aussies are desperate for MS to sign Porte.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

What the...

Aight, thats a little weird to support at rider like Adam Yates 100% in such a field where he probably is like the 9th or 10th favourite when you have Ewan.

Indeed, 1 support rider more or less for Yates won't make or break his race. With the number of sprint stages Ewan would be a good bet for at least one stage win. This is honestly just shocking to me. Must be because he's leaving.

Nah - MS started Matthews in the 2016 TDF when the team knew he was leaving for Sunweb and they started Cort in the 2017 Vuelta when he was leaving Astana - Ewan's form in 2018 has been solid rather than very good - Ewan would have started if his form was exceptional - At the end of the day, MS made a pragmatic decision because they want both Yates to renew with the team - MS doesn't wish to lose two of their three leaders who are off contract - Reckon MS have shown balls !

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

What the...

Aight, thats a little weird to support at rider like Adam Yates 100% in such a field where he probably is like the 9th or 10th favourite when you have Ewan.

Indeed, 1 support rider more or less for Yates won't make or break his race. With the number of sprint stages Ewan would be a good bet for at least one stage win. This is honestly just shocking to me. Must be because he's leaving.

Nah - MS started Matthews in the 2016 TDF when the team knew he was leaving for Sunweb and they started Cort in the 2017 Vuelta when he was leaving Astana - Ewan's form in 2018 has been solid rather than very good - Ewan would have started if his form was exceptional - At the end of the day, MS made a pragmatic decision because they want both Yates to renew with the team - MS doesn't wish to lose two of their three leaders who are off contract - Reckon MS have shown balls !

If he’d signed a new contract, or was in negotiations and looked like signing, he’d be riding. It’s true that MS have let people who were going to leave ride the Tour, but here it’s very obvious that there’s been a serious falling out about his failure to sign. Yes the context to that falling out is that MS are now cutting their losses with him and concentrating on hanging on to both Yates brothers, but they’d never have made that choice if they knew Ewan was willing to stay. And they’d never permanently antagonise their main sprinter and his support riders over a marginal at best form call.

You are right that they are going to want a new sprinter ASAP though. In theory, the two obvious targets would be Viviani or Bennett, the only two of the top dozen sprinters who aren’t the clear number ones on their existing teams. But both are under contract and, in any case probably too expensive if MS are scrounging for the cash to keep all of their GC guys. So there’s a huge opportunity to lead a WT team with an established train available for a young sprint talent. Ackermann, your suggestion above, sounds very possible. Alternatively it could be one of QS young guys.

 

[The_Beach]

Re: Re:

What the...

Aight, thats a little weird to support at rider like Adam Yates 100% in such a field where he probably is like the 9th or 10th favourite when you have Ewan.

Indeed, 1 support rider more or less for Yates won't make or break his race. With the number of sprint stages Ewan would be a good bet for at least one stage win. This is honestly just shocking to me. Must be because he's leaving.

Nah - MS started Matthews in the 2016 TDF when the team knew he was leaving for Sunweb and they started Cort in the 2017 Vuelta when he was leaving Astana - Ewan's form in 2018 has been solid rather than very good - Ewan would have started if his form was exceptional - At the end of the day, MS made a pragmatic decision because they want both Yates to renew with the team - MS doesn't wish to lose two of their three leaders who are off contract - Reckon MS have shown balls !

This. Ewan have shown much more endurance and climbing pedigree this year than earlier, but is has clearly taken some from his top speed, despite always having the strongest or second strongest train, and being in prime position he only has two wins. One in the classic Stirling finish which isn't a typical mass sprint and the other in Almeria against Van Poppel, and no other above average sprinter.
Still it's still a huge surprise, especially considering the effort and money, that's been put into building a train around him.

 

[tobydawq]

But he was far and away the fastest in Milan-Sanremo.

 

[The_Beach]

Re:

But he was far and away the fastest in Milan-Sanremo.

Exactly, that's the point about the improved endurance, the same reason why Kristoff have won the "bunch sprint" in so many hard classics a head of other riders, who's on a normal day faster than him.