"I can look back on my career with pride" - Caleb Ewan has no regrets about retiring

Caleb Ewan had won 65 professional races in his career, including five stages at both Tour de France and Giro d'Italia. There was even a time when the 'pocket rocket' was regarded as the fastest man in peloton. But at the age of 30, the Australian sprinter suddenly waved goodbye to the sport as he seemed close to his best self in the early months of 2025.

Ewan travelled to the Grand Départ in Lille where he spoke to Cyclingnews about being back in the heat of action: "I came here wondering if I'd miss it once I'm here and surrounded by everything but not one part of me wishes I was still racing," he said firmly.

"I'm happy with that feeling. It kind of confirms that the decision to retire was the right one," he feels. "Now I'll get to enjoy the Tour, watch from the sidelines and enjoy the racing. That's how I fell in love with the sport. So I'll enjoy watching these boys battle it out in the sprints."

When Ewan won at Settimana Coppi e Bartali and later also at the Volta a Catalunya, it seemed that the Australian was back on the track to reach the top echelons of sprinter world. But instead, a retirement announcement came shortly afterwards. With a sense fulfillment between the lines.

"I got there. I won again and after I'd done all the work to do it. But sometimes it takes that to realize that it wasn't what I needed. When your time's up, it's up," Ewan explained.

"Perhaps things had to go really well for me to realize that maybe I wasn't enjoying it that much anymore," Ewan explains that inner feeling was important in that decision. "I had a good career. I'm so happy with the way my career went, and I look back with no regrets at all. When you can finish and you can say that, it's a huge bonus as an athlete."

"There's a lot of times when people are forced to retire while still having things they want to achieve and that's a hard way to go out. I was never in that position, I wasn't forced to retire. I could do it on my terms, and I can look back on my career with pride."