Caleb EwanEwan helps Lotto Soudal to recover from disastrous start to the Tour
SISTERON – Lotto Soudal recovered from a nightmare start to the Tour de France when their pocket-size sprinter Caleb Ewan finessed his way to victory in the third stage on Monday.
The Australian hit 69 kph as he slalomed through his rivals, riding dangerously close to the barrier before whizzing around Sam Bennett for a career fourth stage win.
“It’s always nice for the whole team, we have a win and we can relax a bit and it’s when there’s a more relaxed atmosphere that you perform the best,” Ewan told a news conference.
Lotto Soudal came close to not even starting the Tour as four staff members were sent home after a mechanic and a caretaker tested positive for coronavirus.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) had just relaxed the rules on potential exclusions from the event, ruling that two riders or more testing positive within a seven-day period would lead to the whole outfit being sent packing.
But the French health authorities early on Saturday toughened the stance, reverting the rule to its original form — should two members of the team, staffers included, test positive for coronavirus, the outfit would be excluded from the race.
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