"Hopefully, we can motivate each other with a lot of wins" - Dylan Groenewegen relishing internal battle with Caleb Ewan

At Team Jayco AlUla in 2024, both Dylan Groenewegen and Caleb Ewan are engaging in something of an internal battle for the team's number-one sprinter. In the view of the Dutchman, this rivalry could benefit both.

"I think it’s really good we have totally different programmes," said Groenewegen in conversation with Cycling News. "Now he [Ewan] is doing the Australian races, then he goes to the Giro d'Italia so we never see each other. Hopefully, we can motivate each other with a lot of wins and put the pressure a little bit on."

Groenewegen already has a win under his belt in 2024, emerging victorious in a sprint at Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana, whereas Ewan enjoyed a somewhat lacklustre Tour Down Under. The main goal for the year though, remains the Tour de France.

"I think last year I did a lot of races before the Tour and maybe I lost a bit of speed in that in that month, the most important month before the Tour," says Groenewegen. "One year before we got a victory, so that was why I did Dauphiné to get to be a bit harder also on the climbs. This year, we will skip to Dauphiné to get to just have speed in a left for the sprints in the Tour. A lot of teams now choose a sprinter and a climber. We do it and this year at the Tour in the summer it's a big goal for this team to go for GC as well as the sprints. We'll split the team 50% for Yates and 50% for me."

At the season opener for 2024, Groenewegen showed signs of a good relationship with Michael Matthews, signs of a developing sprint train. "It will be Luka Mezgec as a lead out then we have Elmar Reinders and also Michael Matthews, so I think we have a really strong train," Groenewegen says of his leadout. "We'll do some races together also with Matthews in the train so it's good to get to know each other for the big race in the summer and that's the Tour de France. That's the big goal."