Caleb Ewan followed the Tour de France Bordeaux sprint finish from the SBS commentary box, admiring the skill and speed of Tim Merlier, noting how Jasper Philipsen lost because he was dropped off at the front too early into a headwind, and how a mistake meant stage 5 winner Olav Kooij never had a chance to sprint.
Ewan was one of the best sprinters of his generation. He raced between 2014 and 2025, winning 65 times, including five stages at the Tour de France, five at the Giro d’Italia and nine stages at his home race, Tour Down Under.
The Sydneysider retired in the spring of 2025 after a short spell at Ineos and immediately began to work with Australian broadcaster SBS at the Tour de France.
“I always love watching the sprints. I got to commentate on the sprint in Bordeaux, which is special,” Ewan told Cyclingnews as he left the finish area of the stage.
“I still get nervous watching the sprints. But obviously I love it because that’s what I used to do. I do miss the feeling of winning, but I don’t miss all the other stuff, like climbing over the mountains to get to the sprint stages.
“The stage to Bordeaux was a classic Tour de France sprint: pretty cruisy all day where nothing really happened, then it was a fast hectic finish.”
Ewan’s sprinting experience gives him unique expertise to understand the subtitles of Tour sprinting and what makes the difference between winning and losing. He always considers the wind direction, the best lines to take in the final kilometres and the balance of power and execution of the different lead-out trains.
“Alpecin did a pretty good job for Jasper Philipsen but when you do a lead out like that, you have to really nail it,” Ewan pointed out.
“If you leave your sprinter on the front too early, like we saw today, especially in a headwind, he becomes a sitting duck. There are so many quick guys on the wheel, that if you start fading, they’re going to come around you. That’s what we saw with Philipsen. I don’t think he did anything wrong, he was just left in the wind a little too early, probably 100 metres too early. That was unfortunate for him.”
Ewan admired Merlier’s calmness in the heat of the moment and how he emerged from behind to win in Bordeaux.
“He played it pretty cool. He was probably a little bit further back than he wanted to be, but lucky for him, it all just opened up,” Ewan said, noting every detail of the Bordeaux sprint.
“It was a little bit risky because if it closed in on him, he wouldn’t have been able to get out. But if you are able to get out, it’s a lot easier after sitting in that bubble. That’s why, when Merlier did get out, he had an extra turn to speed compared to everyone else.”
Merlier can today claim the bragging rights as the world’s fastest sprinter because he won stage 6. But Ewan was convinced that the differences between winning and losing are finer than ever.
“I think he’s the fastest in the world, but in sprinting, it’s not always the fastest that is the best and the fastest sprinter does not always win,” Ewan said.
“It would be good to see Philipsen sprint from when he wants, against Merlier, Olav Kooij and Biniam Girmay. Hopefully we’ll see that in the other Tour sprints.
“They’re all really talented, really fast and so it’s really close. In modern sprinting one mistake costs you a shot at victory. We saw that with Olav Kooij. He won in Pau but was only 23rd in Bordeaux. You have to get everything right to be able to win at the Tour. That’s why they are the most prestigious sprints of the year.”
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