He’s still just eighteen years of age but Caleb Ewan beat far older and more experienced riders to win the elite race on day one of the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic in Geelong today. The lightning-fast rider overtook breakaway duo Jens Mouris (Orica GreenEdge) and Thomas Scully (Grays Online) just before the line, leaving WorldTour riders such as Greg Henderson (normally Lotto Belisol, but racing with Degani Bakery Café) and Leigh Howard (Orica GreenEdge) in his wake.
Ewan won two rounds of the Bay Crits one year ago and said that gave him confidence this time round.
“I haven’t raced for a while so I didn’t know how I was going to go in the race, this week we did a few hard training sessions with the bike and with that I came up pretty good for the race,” he stated.
“Winning last year I had the ability to come into the race more confident and felt a lot better mentally. As a 17-year-old coming into the race I was a bit overwhelmed, they’re big guys, they race full time, but once I got into the race and won it I felt much more confident and they gave me much more respect.”
Scully and Mouris clipped clear towards the end of the circuit race and opened up a seven second lead. Ewan admitted that he was pessimistic about closing it.
“With five laps to go I didn’t think we could bring them back. There wasn’t really a big organised chase, just the Drapac guy sitting on the front and I knew once he blew there were two GreenEDGE guys. I knew they wouldn’t chase, so Jonny [Cantwell] got on the front and drilled it.
Cantwell, his Bikebug team-mate, gave Ewan important guidance. “He basically told me what to do. You would see me just following him around everywhere just watching,” he explained. “Brad McGee told me to watch everything he does because he is obviously experienced.”
Ewan also thanked his teammate Jack Edwards, who he said also played a big part in the success.
With two days of racing left, he said that he’s feeling optimistic. “Receiving the yellow jersey, it’s going to be a little bit easier to keep with only three stages,” he said. “I really like the Bay Crits and it’s a shame they had to cut it to three.”
Meanwhile Specialized Securitor rider Kimberly Wells also got the better of the bigger teams in the women’s elite event. She recovered from an early crash and then positioned herself perfectly in the finale, holding off Melissa Hoskins (Orica – Ais), Rochelle Gilmore (Wiggle Honda) and her team-mate Kate Finegan (Specialized Securitor).
“It always makes you feel better coming in having had some good results,” she said afterwards. “I also did a Gold Coast cycling festival, with another crit there, so that has definitely helped in the preparation.
“Coming into today I was feeling really nervous because it’s a real step up in the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic.”
Explaining how things played out, she said that making use of the Orice GreenEdge AIS leadout train was a key part of her victory.
“The GreenEDGE girls are always up the front and us Specialized girls were trying to infiltrate that,” she said. “I was keen to try and break them up. We all saw their lead out train at the end of today's race and I wanted to jump in on it.”
However the day wasn’t plain sailing by any means. She hit a fence after the first intermediate sprint and went down. “Bouncing all over the place, I was involved in one of the crashes and smashed my ankle into the fence,” she explained. “I've taken a bit skin off, but a bit of ice will fix that up.”
Meanwhile in the men’s teams support race, Alexander Morgan (Jayco VIS) successfully defended his 2012 victory ahead of Samuel Davis (Huon Salmon – Genesys Wealth Advisers) and Nathan Earle (Huon Salmon – Genesys Wealth Advisers).
In the Total Rush men’s individual support race, Dan Nelson held off the chasing bunch to scoop victory.
The Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic crits continue tomorrow in Portarlington, while the final day of competition is in Williamstown.
2013 Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic:
Stage 1: Ritchie Boulevard, Geelong Eastern Beach:
1, Caleb Ewan (Bikebug) 12 pts
2, Jens Mouris (Orica GreenEdge) 10
3, Thomas Scully (Grays Online) 8
4, Graham Briggs (Great Britain) 7
5, Greg Henderson (Degani Bakery Café) 6
6, Thomas Palmer (Drapac Professional) 5
7, Leigh Howard (Orica GreenEdge) 4
8, Simon Yates (Great Britain) 3
9, Brenton Jones (Huon Salmon – Genesys Wealth) 2
10, Anthony Giacoppo (Huon Salmon – Genesys Wealth) 1
Elite Women:
1, Kimberley Wells (Specialized Securitor) 12
2, Melissa Hoskins (Orica – Ais) 10
3, Rochelle Gilmore (Wiggle Honda) 8
4, Kate Finegan (Specialized Securitor) 7
5, Nicole Whitburn (Liv / Giant) 6
6, Peta Mullens (Anytime Fitness Trek) 5
7, Sarah Roy (Crino Cycles – Casa & Bottega) 4
8, Loes Gunnewijk (Orica – Ais) 3
9, Jenny Macpherson (Liv / Giant) 2
10, Kirsty Glover, 1
Sprint Ace Classification:
Elite Men:
1, Greg Henderson (Degani Bakery Cafe) 6
2, Mitchell Docker (Orica-Greenedge) 5
3, Graham Briggs (Great Britain) 2
Elite Women:
1, Kate Finegan (Specialized Securitor) 3
2, Loes Gunnewijk (Orica - Ais) 3
3, Gracie Elvin 2