Caleb Ewan on Tirreno-Adriatico win: "It was far from easy but this time we got it right"

Lotto Soudal brought a strong block into Tirreno-Adriatico and the pressure was on after Caleb Ewan failed to be at the contention for the win in stage two's sprint. With positioning dialed, the Australian was capable of putting his power to good use today as he sprinted towards the win in Terni.

“Finally I managed to pull off a win at Tirreno-Adriatico. I’ve been at the start several times before but always something went wrong. Today it was far from easy but this time we got it right in the race where I’ve wanted to win a stage for a long time," he said.

He went onto describing the stage finale, in which he had to find his place in the peloton after a dangerous attacked sparked by Tadej Pogacar into the final intermediate sprint put the hurt on the peloton and saw several sprinter teams reduced: “Due to that late attack of the elite group including Alaphilippe and Pogacar, we had to use up our guys earlier than we had hoped. But we knew that we shouldn’t give them much of an advantage so we already lost several guys even before the proper sprint preparation began. As a consequence, I had to find my own way during the finale. I just tried to follow the right wheels and do my own thing at the end.

"Arnaud Démare looked good and still had a teammate with him so I went for his wheel. I knew that I had to be among the first four riders going into the final corner. Such finishes, slightly uphill and with a drag to the line really suit me. So I am really happy to finish it off today.”"

“With three stages already in the pocket, I am really satisfied with how the start of the season is going. My first big goal is next week and this victory gives me a lot of confidence," he finished, referring to Milano-Sanremo which takes place in just over a week. He will however have another opportunity to succeed at the final stage of the week, where he can add another win to his so far successful season.