Caleb Ewan is going to another level, says White

Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) would have been forgiven for resigning himself to the notion that this was going to be an ill-starred Giro d'Italia. On the opening stage in Olbia, the Australian won the bunch sprint but was denied the first maglia rosa of the race by Lukas Pöstlberger's almost accidental late breakaway. A day later, Ewan pulled his foot out of its pedal when he was in the box seat to claim the spoils in Tortolì.

Those near misses were all the more maddening because such opportunities are rare on the modern Giro. Ten or fifteen years ago, the sprinters usually had a chance to dream it up all over again the following day. At the 2004 Giro, for instance, some 11 of the race's 19 road stages finished in bunch sprints, with Alessandro Petacchi carrying off nine of them.

Ewan and his fast-finishing contemporaries must survive on a more meagre diet than Ale-Jet, but the youngster took the edge of his appetite when he claimed victory on stage 7, fending off Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) in a breathless finish in Alberobello.

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"When you win the sprint one metre behind the guy who broke away, or you get boxed in, or your foot comes out, you'd be lying if you said you weren't frustrated," Orica-Scott directeur sportif Matt White said afterwards. "But he's handled it well. If he hadn't handled it well, he wouldn't have won today."

It was the second Grand Tour victory of Ewan's career after his triumph at Alcala de Guadaira during his maiden three-week appearance at the 2015 Vuelta a España. That race, more than any other, showcased the youngster's patience, and ability to seize the rare opportunities that come his way. "In his first Vuelta, the only time he finished in the bunch was the time that he won," White said.

With victories at both the Giro and the Vuelta now notched on his palmarès, it is only natural to wonder when Ewan will be thrust into the fray at the Tour de France. For now at least, however, he is unlikely to see action at this year's Grande Boucle, where Orica-Scott is due to be led by Simon Yates and Esteban Chaves.

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