{"id":183885,"date":"2021-06-07T12:51:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T12:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=183885"},"modified":"2021-06-07T12:51:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T12:51:16","slug":"caleb-ewan-fights-off-criticism-and-aims-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/06\/07\/caleb-ewan-fights-off-criticism-and-aims-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Caleb Ewan Fights Off Criticism and Aims High"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan dropped out of the Giro d\u2019Italia during the eighth stage because of knee pain, he was immediately slammed by cycling great Eddy Merckx.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cThat Caleb Ewan bothers me a lot,\u201d the five-time winner of both the Giro and the Tour de France told Het Nieuwsblad<\/em>.<\/a> His dropping out \u201cis a total lack of professionalism and a lack of respect for the Giro and cycling. He deserves a sanction: take away all prizes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The criticism turned into a family pile-on when Merckx’s son Axel also rebuked Ewan, saying that \u201cjust leaving without real evidence of knee pain \u2013 that is a total lack of respect towards the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caleb<\/a>
Ewan at the 8th stage of the 2021 Giro. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps the Merckxes did not know that Ewan had announced before the Giro that he would not finish the race and that his goal for the season was to win a stage in each of the Grand Tours this year. He had won two stages and was wearing the maglia ciclamino<\/em>, or purple jersey, as the leader in the points classification when he quit the Giro.<\/p>\n

Ewan responded to the criticism<\/a> by saying that he was \u201cmore disappointed than anyone\u201d that he had to leave the race so early, and added: \u201cTo the people who think I\u2019ve disrespected the race, I\u2019m sorry you feel that way. If you saw the hard work and dedication I\u2019ve put into my preparation to honour this race and perform at my best I\u2019m sure you wouldn\u2019t think the same. \u201d<\/p>\n

But perhaps Eddy and Alex Merckx were irked by the fact that Ewan decided to quit the race at a point in the stage just before its first real obstacle, a category 2 climb. And maybe (though neither of them specified) they were thinking that successful Grand Tour sprinters must not only be quick enough to win the sprints but also robust and fit enough to survive the mountains and complete the race.<\/p>\n

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Just a short message on my departure from the giro pic.twitter.com\/AwSR8AAN01<\/a><\/p>\n

— Caleb Ewan (@CalebEwan) May 17, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n