Caleb Ewan isn’t usually within the enterprise of going full bore in particular person time trials, however stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia in Budapest doubled as a kind of health check for the Australian after his heavy crash on the opening day.
Though Ewan reported no damaged bones within the crash, the Lotton Soudal rider misplaced some pores and skin when he fell closely on his left facet. His night time’s sleep was not unduly interrupted by the accidents, nonetheless, and he awoke on Saturday cautiously optimistic that his Giro had not been unduly compromised.
The technical 9.2km time trial course alongside the boulevards of Pest after which throughout the Danube river to hillier Buda demanded fixed accelerations, which allowed Ewan to run by means of the scales forward of the race’s subsequent seemingly dash alternative on the shore of Lake Balaton on Sunday.
“I really feel alright, truly. You by no means actually know firstly till you get up within the morning and secondly if you get on the bike,” Ewan mentioned after finishing his time trial, 1:06 off the profitable time set by Simon Yates (Staff BikeExchange-Jayco). “Surprisingly I felt fairly good right this moment.
“To be trustworthy, I wished fairly a tough hit-out right this moment simply to open the whole lot again up once more and see how I really feel. I felt fairly good, truly. Normally, I’m going fairly gradual in time trials, however right this moment I felt I may push all the way in which, so I felt fairly completely happy.”
Ewan needed to abandon final 12 months’s Tour de France after breaking his collarbone in a crash on stage 3, and he was content material to downplay the importance of his accidents right here. “It’s simply pores and skin: fortunately there’s nothing damaged, which is at all times the primary scare,” he mentioned.
The Lotto Soudal rider was equally even-handed when requested to revisit the incident that noticed him crash nearby of the road in Visegrád on Friday. Ewan clipped the rear wheel of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) as he battled to get on phrases with stage winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), and he hooked up no blame to his fellow quick males.
“Clearly, I clipped the wheel. In that place, I used to be making an attempt to consider a option to get out and the one approach out was to go left,” Ewan mentioned. “I used to be tremendous near the wheel, as you noticed. Stuff occurs in sprints.”
Ewan will now flip his consideration to the Giro’s closing stage in Hungary on Sunday, which brings the gruppo from Kaposvár to Balatonfüred. The class 4 climb to Tihany within the finale would possibly discommode among the sprinters, however, on the proof of his efficiency on the 5km haul to the road in Visegrád, Ewan shouldn’t be unduly troubled. A rematch with Van der Poel and Girmay awaits, although Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) must also be within the combine.
“I believe I’m climbing good anyway so if the climbs hurts among the sprinters’ legs, then it’s most likely good for me,” mentioned Ewan. “Hopefully [the crash] doesn’t have an effect on me an excessive amount of. Right this moment I felt good, however tomorrow is the essential one. Hopefully, I’ll get up tomorrow feeling good once more.”
