Caleb Ewan to miss Belgian classics due to ongoing illness

Caleb Ewan has undergone the hardship that was having to miss his early-season goal, but illness is also putting him out of two more races which the Australian was eyeing this spring.

Lotto Soudal have today announced the lineup for the Minerva Classic Brugge-De Panne which was initially planned to be Ewan's first race after Milano-Sanremo, however the team has said he "is not yet recovered from the stomach flu that kept him out of Milan-Sanremo." Team leader will now be upcoming talent Arnaud de Lie at the sprinter-friendly classic.

Ewan has had a successful start to the season with wins at the Saudi Tour, Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var and Tirreno-Adriatico. He abandoned the Italian stage-race early in order to prepare for the first monument of the season, however he caught a stomach flu which is keeping him out of competition. It is unclear when his return will be, but it is possible that Ewan will change his focus to the upcoming Giro d'Italia now.

Lotto Soudal for Minerva Classic Brugge-De Panne: Jasper de Buyst, Arnaud de Lie, Sébastien Grignard, Michael Schwarzmann, Rüdiger Selig, Brent van Moer and Florian Vermeersch.