Caleb Ewan reflects on disappointing Tour de France: "Obviously I came here to try to win stages"

Caleb Ewan has been having a rough season with illnesses and lots of crashes taking him out of contention in important moments of the year, and the Tour de France was no exception. The leader of Lotto Soudal took some good conclusions out of the race, however one that was especially tough for the Belgian team.

In an interview with SBS, Ewan admitted that the biggest accomplishment of this Tour personally was completing it: “The most positive thing is that I finished and I think after a few years I needed to have a full Grand Tour in the legs". This was only his third ever time completing a Grand Tour, the last time being the 2020 Tour.

“I think it will benefit me for the rest of this season and next season as well, so if I can take a positive that’s it. But obviously I came here to try to win stages, and I failed in that sense, so that’s disappointing," the 'Pocket Rocket' added.

Ewan came to the Tour de France without his traditional leadout, however with ambitions of taking a stage win after a disappointing Giro d'Italia. He didn't manage to do so, rarely featuring in the sprint even, with an eighth place on the Champs-Élysées his best result to take out from the race.

With Lotto Soudal in a complicated position, below the red line and in the battle to stay at World Tour level, the points that the team did not manage to score throughout the Tour will be a tough hit, however with a more favouring calendar upcoming now in the classics.

Ewan was also the Lanterne Rouge of the race - the last rider in the overall classification - which has had him joke, in a lighter mood: “I think I got a free holiday with it or something. I’ll probably need it after this Tour.”