Caleb Ewan's Tour Down Under prospects in doubt after Aussie ace skips Down Under Classic due to illness

The 2024 Tour Down Under was supposed to be something of a homecoming for Caleb Ewan. Back in Australia and back in the colours of Aussie-based Team Jayco AlUla although now, that seems to be in doubt.

With Ewan a notable absentee from the Down Under Classic won by Jhonatan Narvaez on Saturday, it's now been revealed the sprinter pulled out due to illness after struggling in the Australian heat. “We thought that it was better if Caleb didn’t race today because the criterium isn’t really part of the WorldTour race,” Jayco performance director Matt White told GCN afterwards.

“The best idea was to rest him ahead of Tuesday," White continued, choosing to remain optimistic at this stage. "He just didn’t feel 100 percent and yesterday was close to 40 degrees. We thought it was better for him to rest because Tuesday is when the real race starts.”

“We’re monitoring the situation as he’s obviously a big part of our plans for the week,” White elaborates further. "We’ve got time though and in the next 48 hours hopefully it returns to normal but if we do replace him we probably need to make that decision by Sunday afternoon. We’ve got a couple of guys who are close by and at home in Hamilton and Durbridge. So we have got the ability to bring people in if need be but we want to give Caleb the best chance of being ready to go.”