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The Australian sprinting icon had gone close to recording his first sprint victory at the Tour de France since 2020, with third on stage 3 and an agonisingly close second-place finish behind the Tour's dominant sprinter Jasper Philipsen on stage 4.
However, in the next week or so of competition, Ewan had appeared out of sorts, dropped the first of all riders on the mountain stages consistently and not riding with his usual verve in the sprint finish to stage 11, where he finished 15th.
Ewan didn't speak to reporters at the finish to stage 13 after climbing into a team car before the major ascent of the Grand Colombier. Instead, Lotto-Dstny team director Stephan Heulot fronted the media to discuss the news on a mixed day for the team, with Maxim van Gils impressive to finish in second on the stage.
"It was a very difficult day, since yesterday and today he wasn't in good shape or a good mentality," Heulot told SBS Sport.
"It was difficult for him, difficult for us. We saw immediately after the last sprint it would be difficult for him to continue for a long time in the race.
"It's difficult for a lot of sprinters [to get through the mountains]. Moreover, Philipsen is over the bunch, he's the best sprinter in the world right now. But we can see the start of the season for Caleb is a little bit the same as this Tour, it's a pity.
"Yesterday he spoke about giving up. We tried to motivate him, but I guess it was a problem in the legs."
The 29-year-old Australian's immediate plans are unclear, with the UCI World Championships men's road race probably a bit too hard for him and the next natural target would be the Vuelta a Espana, a race that Ewan hasn't competed in since his neo-pro season in 2015.
Ewan has a year left to run on his contract with Lotto-Dstny, but whether he, or young Belgian talent Arnaud de Lie on a Belgian team takes leadership for next year's Tour de France is going to be a question that will be debated for the next 12 months.
"Sincerely, I don't know. I'm very disappointed," Heulot said when asked what Caleb's next steps would be after his exit from the race.
