There is electricity in the air between Stéphane Heulot, the manager of the Lotto Dsnty team and the Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan who retired in the Tour de France during the 13th stage between Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne and the Grand Colombier on Friday.
Distanced more than a quarter of an hour from the leading men with his teammate Frederik Frison, the five-time stage winner ended up throwing in the towel about twenty kilometers from the finish, placed at the top of the Grand Colombier. The “Pocket Rocket”, after the first convincing sprints at the start of the Great Loop in Bayonne (3rd) then Nogaro (2nd), was no longer able to join the fight with Jasper Philipsen afterwards.
This is the fourth big round without a win for the Australian since his double in the Giro 2021. “He was not there at all, pinned him on Thursday the general manager of Lotto-Dstny Kurt Van by Wower. The legs just weren’t there, no excuses.”
Stéphane Heulot gave a layer, very bitter. “He was already talking about giving up since yesterday (Thursday, editor’s note). When a rider from the Tour begins to have thoughts of the kind…. Vis-à-vis the team, the staff, the team members and the partners, I do not find it very big, “lamented the former rider. in the Team columns before adding. “We expected more. Since the last sprint (at Moulins, Wednesday, where he finished 15th), we could see that he was no longer there. The manager turned the page by concluding, scathingly: “I can’t do anything, it’s up to him… I don’t know how to manage this type of character, I’ve never seen that. He asks a lot of his team, it’s a lot for him, always for him. Today, I am very happy that (Maxim) Van Gils (2nd) answered him like that. »
