He's back! Caleb Ewan sprints - thanks to great lead-out - to victory in first stage Coppi e Bartali

Caleb Ewan has won the first stage of the Coppi e Bartali. The Australian proved unbeatable in the sprint and won by a bike-length lead. This is a big boost for Ewan, as the past two years have been extremely difficult.

After the Italian one-day races Strade Bianche, Milan-Turin, and Milan-Sanremo, it is finally time for a multi-day Italian cycling race. In the Coppi e Bartali, the cyclists will face five stages, four of which will take them over a hilly and challenging course. With riders such as Magnus Sheffield, Jay Vine, Alberto Bettiol, Ben Tulett, and top talent Jørgen Nordhagen, there are quite a few big names at the start.

But the first stage is one for the sprinters. There is no altitude difference over almost 175 kilometers, and five riders thought this was the ideal stage to launch an attack. The breakaway riders—including Baptiste Huyet of Unibet Tietema Rockets—immediately went on the attack, creating a lead of over two minutes, while INEOS Grenadiers controlled the breakaway.

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INEOS Grenadiers controls, no big gap for leading group

With 70 kilometers to go, the leading group still had a lead of almost two minutes, but the five breakaway riders could not extend their lead. With 40 kilometers to go, the five riders only had a margin of just over a minute and a half, thanks to the hard work of INEOS Grenadiers and Israel-Premier Tech.

When other teams joined the chase in the peloton, the breakaway was waiting to be caught. The riders soon saw their lead drop to one minute, and with 15 kilometers to go, it was game over for the last breakaway riders, who had been on the attack for more than 150 kilometers.

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Platoon in pursuit

Leaders caught, teams form sprint train

Meanwhile, the pace in the peloton also picked up considerably, and you could see that it became a lot more nervous. The teams with important GC contenders fought for their place at the front, while the sprinter teams battled to be at the front going into the last ten kilometers of the first stage. Fortunately, this did not result in any crashes.

In the final kilometers, the men of INEOS Grenadiers, riding for Ewan, were positioned at the front of the peloton. At the same time, it became an enormous battle to start the final kilometers well-positioned. In the final kilometer, Ewan got a powerful lead-out, after which he quickly sprinted to victory. For the Australian, it is his first victory in the colors of INEOS Grenadiers after a challenging period.

Result of stage 1 Coppi e Bartali

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