Defending national road championships criterium winner Caleb Ewan encountered a hurdle in his preparation for Wednesday’s championships after he took a heavy fall at Geelong in the Bay Classic criterium series on New Year’s Day.
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Ewan fell on the final corner as he prepared for a sprint finish, he suffered some nasty grazes to his left shoulder and hip, but escaped serious injury.
The 22-year-old told The Courier prior to the race that he was hoping to build towards his best form after a couple of months off racing in between seasons.
The crash, which puts a line through Ewan’s chances of winning a third consecutive title at Geelong, is not an ideal lead-up, but he is expected to race in the remaining stages and will be right for Ballarat, where he hopes to defend his title.
“I doubt my form is going to be exactly the same as last year and it’s hard to tell before you start racing,” Ewan said. “Hopefully I can come back there with some good form and try and repeat what I did last year.
“It’s hard to tell, because I haven’t started racing yet, so I’ll have a better idea after the Bay crits.”
Ewan’s preparation has been different to previous years after a later end to the season has seen a quick turnaround to racing.
Prior to the Geelong event his final race was the world championships in October – usually his season ends in September.
“The season was six weeks later than it was last year, so I didn’t really get a good ease into the preparation I had to get straight into it, which is different to what I’m used to, but it should be all right,” he said. “Usually you can gradually get into your training whereas this time around I’ve had to step straight into some hard stuff. I think I’m going all right, but it’s hard to tell because I haven’t raced for a while.”
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