Caleb Ewan opened his 2024 season with victory in the men's criterium title at the Federation University Australian Road National Championships, on his debut in Jayco AlUla colours.
The evening criterium was an attack-heavy race in the main street of Ballarat, with even Ewan taking a short and unexpected solo whirl halfway through. But in the end, the fast race came down to a bunch sprint with a crash adding to the drama, as a rider fell as the kick to the line was opening up.
Ewan was close to the crash but avoided going down and took a convincing victory, quickly turning a fresh page after a challenging final 2023 season with Lotto Soudal.
Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Deceuninck) came second and Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) third.
"It was pretty hard all day," Ewan said immediately after his victory. "No breaks really managed to get away, so it was a tough race but in the last part we got organised for a bunch sprint."
It was Ewan's fourth criterium title but his first since 2018.
“It’s great to put the jersey back on and this is exactly the way I wanted to start [with Jayco AlUla]," said Ewan. "It feels good and it gives me confidence going into the rest of the season now.”
The return of the Jayco AlUla team to the top of the podium at the Australian Road National Championships criterium came after Ruby Roseman-Gannon led a clean sweep of the women's elite criterium podium by the Liv AlUla Jayco squad.
That, in turn followed on from the men's elite time trial podium sweep led by Luke Plapp, another new addition to the men's Australian team.
The big events are still ahead, with the road races to play out over the weekend, with both the elite women and men racing on Sunday. Two-time winner Plapp and Ewan are among Jayco AlUla's key cards in the race.
"The race really needs to go a certain way for me to win, so we will see how it goes, but my legs feel good, so hopefully I can do the double," said Ewan.
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🥇 Caleb Ewan's first race back with GreenEdge Cycling is a win as he takes the sprint at the Australian Road Nationals Criterium! 🇦🇺4th time a winner, but his first since 2018! Plowright and Welsford round out the podium! #sbscycling #couchpeloton #Roadnats24 pic.twitter.com/oxmdiu8ObfJanuary 5, 2024
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