Having beaten WorldTour riders earlier this year in winning on day one of the Mitchelton Bay Classic, the-then eighteen year old Caleb Ewan was pinpointed as a major talent for the future.
He has further underlined that with an impressive eight victories in Europe this year plus fourth place in the world under 23 championship, and has now signed a pre contract with the Orica GreenEdge team.
Ewan will race with the Jayco AIS squad for the first part of next season, then will join Orica GreenEdge as a stagiare next August. After that, he will officially become part of the WorldTour team in October of next year.
Ewan has made clear in the past that he wouldn’t turn pro unless he felt he was ready, and has reiterated his intention not to step up too soon.
“I decided I wanted to stay in the U23 team for part of next year and ease into the transition a bit more,” he explained. “If I went pro next year, it could be too early in terms of development. GreenEdge has given me a clear path that outlines several smaller steps rather than one big one. When I do turn pro, I’ll be ready.”
The agreement has now ensured that his step up with be with that squad. “This was the obvious place for me to go,” Ewan stated. “For a young Australian, it’s the perfect set-up. The team has shown they care about my development, and I’m confident they can provide the sort of support and mentoring I’ll need during my first few years as a professional.”
He is lightning quick as a sprinter but also has versatility on steep climbs and medium mountains; these attributes should ensure big victories in the years ahead.
“We identified Caleb as an extremely talented rider as evidenced by his results,” said Orica GreenEdge general manager Shayne Bannan. “We’re excited to be part of his development and growth. His success to date indicates that he’s one of the classiest riders in the next generation of cyclists.
“We obviously have close ties with Jayco-AIS,” Bannan continued. “We’ve agreed to have Caleb stay with that team next year. He’ll be on pre-contract with ORICA-GreenEdge as of January 1 2014. He’ll have at least two full years of racing with us, so his contract runs through the end of the 2016 season.
“It’s quite impressive that Caleb conducts himself so professionally at such a young age. The way he goes about looking after himself both on and off the bike will serve him well. We’re very happy to work with such a hard-working, naturally talented young man.”
Ewan credits his current team as having been of importance in his wins this year.
“Everyone gets along so well. We all back each other. That’s been the key to my results this year. Also, I’ve been in Europe for the past three years at this point, so I’m getting more adjusted both to racing and living over there,” he said.
“The two stage wins at Tour de l’Avenir stand out as my best accomplishments. My goal this year was to win at least one race and make the team for Tour de l’Avenir and for Worlds. I never expected things to go as well as they did.”
He’s has ideas on what races will be important next year.
“I’ll start the year as a U23. I’ll target the top U23 races. I hope to make the Commonwealth Games team and do that at start of August,” he said. “From there, I’ll stagiaire with the team up until the World Championships. I hope to be selected again for Worlds. Maybe I’ll do Tour de l’Avenir again, too. If everything goes as planned, my first World Tour race would be Tour of Beijing.”