Caleb Ewan wins Down Under Classic
Huge crash takes out several sprinters in final
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) came away with the win at the 2019 Down Under Classic ahead of Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) and Alexander Edmondson (Mitchelton-Scott). Ewan came through a difficult final lap after a crash took down several rivals, including Italian national champion Elia Viviani.
Ewan made it through the final set of corners and was perfectly brought to the line by his teammate Roger Kluge. There was a late charge from last year's winner Peter Sagan but the three-time world champion had no answer when Ewan opened up his sprint with the Australian winning by over a bike length. Edmondson was the best of the rest and rounded out the podium.
"I knew that it was going to be a hard one to win because of the caliber of sprinter here. I went into it confident and I knew that my form was good but you never know how it's going to go. It was a very aggressive race and that made it a little bit harder," Ewan said at the finish.
"My team did a fantastic job. On a course like this with four corners on each lap, it's hard to stay together but they stayed composed and I stayed with Roger and he delivered me perfectly."
The win marked Ewan's first major victory of the season - he won twice at the recent Bay Crits - and his first against a world class field since his move from Mitchelton-Scott to Lotto-Soudal during the winter. The Australian, who has won the Down Under Classic twice in his career, was well placed in the closing laps and was one of the first riders to come through the final set of corners, where the crash occurred. Daniel Oss held a brief gap as he attacked in the final few hundred meters but he was unable to hold his advantage as Kluge - who moved with Ewan from Mitchelton-Scott to Lotto-Soudal - brought his leader back into contention.
The early laps saw a number of attacks from within the field with Mat Hayman - riding his final race before retiring at the end of the Tour Down Under - particularly active in closing down moves. Lotto-Soudal's Thomas de Gendt was also present at the front, while Dimenson Data's Ben O'Connor was part of the first attack of the one-hour race. With the sprinters' teams unwilling to see a break gain more than thirty seconds the pace was frantic throughout.
FDJ, the new CCC Team and EF Education First all tried to create breaks but with Lotto-Soudal, Bahrain Merida, Bora and the rest of the sprinters' teams setting the pace the race quickly became a predicable battle between the fast men.
The crash in the final kilometre certainly played a huge role in the finish. By the time the remnants of the main field came through the last set of corners only a handful of riders remained in contention. However, you make your own luck and Ewan and Lotto Soudal showed cohesion and skill in making sure that their sprinter was near the front and wasn't involved in the fight for places further back in the field.
"I'm happy with my form and I couldn't ask for a better start. This is the first time I've raced with a full team like this. To start with the win is a good feeling," Ewan added.
"This was probably the most important one today. To get the confidence of the team up. They did a perfect job and this was the first time we've done the leadout. It's such a good feeling."
Next up for Ewan is the Tour Down Under, with the first stage on Tuesday.
Race finish highlights
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal | 1:03:59 |
2 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
3 | Alex Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
4 | Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:02 |
5 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:00:04 |
6 | Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky | 0:00:05 |
7 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | 0:00:09 |
8 | Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team | |
9 | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin | |
10 | Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team | |
11 | Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
12 | Mikkel Frølich Honore (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step | |
13 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ | 0:00:17 |
14 | Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Sky | |
15 | Lluís Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team | |
16 | Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
17 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | |
18 | Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First Pro Cycling | |
19 | Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
20 | Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida | |
21 | Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Groupama-FDJ | |
22 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb | 0:00:22 |
23 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step | 0:00:27 |
24 | Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Dimension Data | 0:00:32 |
25 | Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Dimension Data | |
26 | Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
27 | Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates | |
28 | Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
29 | Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
30 | Ruben Guerreiro (Por) Katusha-Alpecin | |
31 | Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal | |
32 | Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team | |
33 | Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
34 | Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:41 |
35 | Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky | |
36 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | |
37 | Adam Blythe (GBr) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:55 |
38 | Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal | |
39 | Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team | |
40 | Rubén Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
41 | Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | |
42 | Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
43 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain-Merida | |
44 | Chris Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb | 0:00:59 |
45 | Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
46 | Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
47 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott | |
48 | Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb | |
49 | Dylan Sunderland (Aus) UniSA-Australia | |
50 | Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
51 | Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team | |
52 | Remi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck - Quick-Step | |
53 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
54 | Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
55 | Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data | |
56 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
57 | Neil van der Ploeg (Aus) UniSA-Australia | 0:01:17 |
58 | Michael Potter (Aus) UniSA-Australia | |
59 | Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
60 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain-Merida | 0:01:19 |
61 | Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale | |
62 | Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ | |
63 | Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:01:21 |
64 | Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
65 | Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
66 | Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team | |
67 | Oscar Gatto (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
68 | Leo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
69 | Jason Lea (Aus) UniSA-Australia | 0:01:24 |
70 | Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal | |
71 | Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo | 0:01:26 |
72 | Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team | |
73 | Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ | |
74 | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin | |
75 | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin | |
76 | Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
77 | Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education First Pro Cycling | 0:01:29 |
78 | Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | |
79 | Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
80 | Vyacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | |
81 | Dmitry Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | |
82 | Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky | |
83 | Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Trek-Segafredo | |
84 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky | |
85 | Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team | |
86 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates | |
87 | Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
88 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:01:33 |
89 | Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
90 | Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
91 | Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb | 0:01:35 |
92 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky | |
93 | Thomas Scully (NZl) EF Education First Pro Cycling | |
94 | Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida | |
95 | Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo | 0:01:38 |
96 | Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team | |
97 | Joey Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team | |
98 | Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ | |
99 | William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | |
100 | George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
101 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
102 | Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
103 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:01:41 |
104 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
105 | James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | 0:01:44 |
106 | Tom Leezer (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | 0:01:48 |
107 | Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data | 0:01:50 |
108 | Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data | |
109 | Ben O'Connor (Aus) Dimension Data | |
110 | Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team | 0:01:51 |
111 | Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | 0:02:00 |
112 | Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data | |
113 | Ayden Toovey (Aus) UniSA-Australia | |
114 | Chris Harper (Aus) UniSA-Australia | |
115 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
116 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma | |
117 | Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:02:11 |
118 | Rohan Dennis (Aus) Bahrain-Merida | |
119 | James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck - Quick-Step | 0:02:25 |
120 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step | 0:02:34 |
121 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck - Quick-Step | |
122 | Ivo Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates | 0:02:36 |
123 | Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step | 0:02:47 |
124 | Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | 0:03:01 |
125 | Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | 0:03:33 |
126 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida | 0:04:26 |
DNF | Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Education First Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Eduard Prades Reverte (Spa) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Victor de la Parte (Spa) CCC Team | |
DNF | Nick White (Aus) UniSA-Australia |

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