Australian will remain in the sport through a range of projects, including some TV commentary work
Having worked with the team as a sprint advisor since his retirement from cycling in May of 2012, Robbie McEwen has confirmed that he will no longer be part of the Orica GreenEdge setup.
During his career the Australian built a reputation and palmares as one of the fastest sprinters of the modern era. He won twelve stages of the Tour de France plus three green jerseys, as well as taking a dozen stages in the Giro d’Italia, four editions of Paris-Brussels, the Scheldeprijs and Vattenfall Cyclassics plus numerous sprint victories in stage races.
He joined the Orica GreenEdge team in 2012 as part of a plan to develop its sprinters and young riders. His role there saw him race until the Tour of California, then retire and continue to work with the team. He gave advice and guidance, and also did reconnaissance of sprint stages in races such as the Tour de France, documenting the profiles of finishes.
The team had a quiet first Tour in 2012 but bounced back this year to take an individual stage win with Simon Gerrans plus team time trial success on day four. Both Gerrans and Daryl Impey wore the yellow jersey.
The squad is aiming to step things up further in 2014, but will do so without McEwen on board. “My two year contract expired and we didn't renew,” McEwen told VeloNation. “Our family relocated to Australia in late 2011, I raced the first five months of 2012 then had my part-time role as technical advisor and doing team PR here in Australia.
“With the bulk of the racing and the team obviously being [based] in Europe and me in Australia, it wasn't really feasible for the team to renew the contract. I’m very grateful for the opportunity that I was given by Gerry Ryan and Shayne Bannan.”
The team has not responded to a request for comment.
McEwen confirms that he will remain involved in the sport. He has an ambassador’s role with Cycle Asia, has his own granfondo on the Gold Coast and will also run a VIP tour to this year’s Giro d’Italia. In addition to that he has a self-titled range of clothing and chamois cream, and will do freelance commentary work. The latter will include working with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen at the upcoming Tour Down Under.
“I’ll be busy enough,” he said. “I’m trying to spend more time with my family and find time to go snowboarding a couple of times a year too.”