Determination Yields Wins for McEwen
Robbie McEwen is a veteran of the Tour de France. McEwen missed the 2009 Tour with an injury and is now preparing to start his 11th Tour in 13 years on Saturday, July 3rd. As one of 10 Australian riders in this year's Tour, McEwen will be looking to add to his 12 stage wins to date against his younger competitors.
McEwen has won the Tour’s green sprinters jersey three times: in 2002, 2004 and 2006. He won three stages in both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour in 2006, winning the Montargis, Karlsruhe and Montpellier stages of the latter.
McEwen also represented Australia in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics. He held the pink jersey of Giro d’Italia in 2005 and the famous yellow jersey of the Tour in 2004. McEwen was named Australian Cyclist of the Year in 2002.
Perseverance is one of Robbie McEwen’s strongest attributes as a cyclist. The Queenslander won Stage 1 of the Tour in 2007 after crashing 20km before the finish line and then sprinting ahead of riders who had not been affected by the crash to get first place.
“The last kilometres had a load of roundabouts and corners and I kept moving to the front to try to be economical,” McEwen explained to Cycling News after the impressive stage win.
“In the sprint itself, nothing was hurting except my muscles, and that is normal. It was only about 100 metres after the finish line when everything started hurting again,” he said. “But it is worth that pain to have a stage win in the Tour de France."
However, McEwen’s determination also has its price. Later in 2007’s Tour, he experienced severe problems with his neck, back and knees, and a shin fracture kept him out for most of the 2009 season.
The Australian’s explosive sprinting technique has won him many stages of the Giro and the Tour, but it also puts him at risk of crashing near the end of every stage. At the start of his 2008 season, crashes and injuries prevented McEwen from picking up any wins.
In the autumn of that year, McEwen signed with outstanding Russian Team Katusha. With an annual budget of €15 million, Team Katusha is one of the richer teams on the UCI Pro Tour. At 38 years-old, McEwen’s role on the team is that of a mentor to the younger cyclists.
The mountain stages of the Tour render McEwen unlikely to grab a win in the general classification, but in time trials and flat stages, he will fancy his chances. This year, the Tour route includes 13.2km of cobbled streets, which may prove an obstacle to some riders.
McEwen, however, who performed well in the 2004 Tour’s cobbled stages, welcomes the challenge posed by the cobbles.
"It's going to be crazy and chaotic and I'm sure a group of riders, perhaps even a very small group will get a gap and other riders, including some big overall contenders, will lose time," McEwen told Cycling News after seeing this year’s route.
On June 24, the sprinter celebrated his 38th birthday by riding 100km on the cobbled Stage 3 of this year’s Tour. The stage stretches from Hanze, Belgium to Arenberg, France and will be decided on July 3.
In recent years, McEwen has participated in a number of spectator-friendly sprints. During the Tour, he will be looking to prevail over his counterparts during the flat stages. In particular, McEwen has eyed a clash with British sprinter Mark Cavendish, a challenge he welcomes with optimism.
Fans may also expect some entertainment from the Australian, who has been known to cross the goal line of a stage while doing a wheelie, a BMX-trick that includes riding the bike on the back wheel only while saluting the audience.
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