Robbie McEwen may well have sealed his place in the Australian squad for the world road race championships today, underlining that he is back from injury when he sprinted to victory on day two of the Eneco Tour. The 38 year old Team Katusha rider ran rings around riders ten years younger than him, proving fastest of the 81-man main bunch.
McEwen best Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Team Saxo Bank) and Allan Davis (Astana) to the line in Rhenen, using all of his experience to master a tough run-in and to time his sprint to perfection.
The success was his second win of the year, following on from a stage victory in the Vuelta a Mallorca in February. Importantly, it is his biggest result since a potential career-ending crash in last year’s Tour of Belgium, and shows that he has fully recovered from a big crash in the 2010 Tour de France.
It also greatly increases his chances of being named in the final worlds squad next month. “I am curious to know the Australian selection for the world championships,” he said at the post-stage press conference. “On September 20, the list will go from 15 to 9 names. I want to be in there, I know that I have a chance in Geelong.”
McEwen was one of 15 riders named a week ago as being part of the team’s long list. He said shortly before the announcement that he considered his participation would be advantageous to the team. ''I think the team needs to be a group of experienced worlds riders who can all ride the finale of the race as it is a circuit that provides opportunities for different types of riders,'' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
His best worlds placing was second in Zolder eight years ago. He was also fifth in Salzburg.
Apart from worlds selection, today’s performance also improved his bargaining power in the hunt for a pro deal for next season. “With regards a new contract, I am less sure,” he told Belga. “Next week I'm be sitting down with Andrei Tchmil, and other teams are interested. Next year I'm sure I’ll be in the peloton, but I don’t yet know with which team.”
The win came after a long move by Pavel Brutt (Katusha), Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano) and former Under 23 world time trial champion Adriano Malori (Lampre-Farnese Vini) was hauled back with eight kilometres remaining. The peloton then prepared for a sprint, but the uphill nature of the final kilometres made a gallop far from certain. Edvald Boasson Hagen jumped inside the final kilometre, but McEwen metered out his strength perfectly and, once the Team Sky rider was caught, he hit the jets and grabbed a fine victory.
Yesterday’s prologue winner Svein Tuft (Garmin - Transitions) finished in the bunch and remains five seconds clear of Jos Van Emden (Rabobank).
He was happy to defend the lead, but McEwen was even more delighted. As welcome as the stage win is for a rider who has had more than his fair share of injury to deal with in the past 14 months, the nature of the triumph will also give him a lot of satisfaction. The tough run in to the line shows that he can fight it out on lumpy terrain, and that too boosts his chances of being selected.
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Eneco Tour:
Stage 1, Steenwijk (Ned) - Rhenen (Ned):
1, Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha) 178 kilometres in 4 hours 16 mins 34 secs
2, Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Team Saxo Bank)
3, Allan Davis (Astana)
4, Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas-Doimo)
5, Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto)
6, Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team)
7, Yauheni Hutarovich (La Francaise des Jeux)
8, José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Caisse d'Epargne)
9, Christian Knees (Team Milram)
10, Maxime Vantomme (Team Katusha) all same time
Overall classification after stage 1:
1, Svein Tuft (Garmin - Transitions) 4 hours 22 mins 52 secs
2, Jos Van Emden (Rabobank) at 5 secs
3, Lars Boom (Rabobank) at 6 secs
4, Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank)
5, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Professional Cycling Team) at 7 secs
6, Tony Martin (Team HTC - Columbia)
7, Richie Porte (Team Saxo Bank) at 9 secs
8, Christian Knees (Team Milram) at 11 secs
9, Patrick Gretsch (Team HTC - Columbia) at 12 secs
10, Greg Henderson (Sky Professional Cycling Team) same time