AusCycling says it did not pick Caleb Ewan for this year’s UCI Road World Championship because his riding style did not suit the Wollongong course.
The sprint specialist, who hails from Sydney, was a surprise omission when AusCycling released its team list for September 18-25 event on Thursday.
Belgium publication Het Nieuwsblad earlier this week reported Ewan was likely to miss out and had been told as much.
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Speaking after the selection announcement, AusCycling elite road co-ordinator Rory Sutherland explained the rationale behind the decision.
“Caleb, specifically – and I know these questions were going to come up, we all do – Caleb has had a pretty rough year,” said Sutherland.
“You have to have a look at the performances of the athletes and you have to look at the course specifically and look at how many metres of climbing are involved in that.
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“I think a fairytale for a lot of people would be that Caleb Ewan would be able to race, but we all have to agree that you have to be on a certain level to be able to get to that point so that you can be in the pointy end of the race and be effective there as well.”
Jai Hindley and Michael Matthews will lead the men’s team joined by Luke Plapp, Ben O’Connor, Simon Clarke, Luke Durbridge, Heinrich Haussler and Nick Schultz.
The squad was set to be named on Tuesday but was pushed to Thursday due to two cyclists appealing their absence from the squad.
AusCycling would not divulge the names of the individuals when asked during a press conference, citing privacy reasons.
As Sutherland noted, Ewan has had a tough time of late, not helping his cause given the nature of the course itself.
“It’s a tricky one,” said Sutherland.
“I know that Caleb specifically is from the area, but when you look at the course profile I think we originally thought when everyone heard Wollongong Worlds and before it was brought out in the press that we were going to see a very sprinter-friendly race.
“We never know what’s coming from the UCI and the organising committee and when the course is actually released to us. The funny part about it is that I get calls from all other national federations asking me, ‘What do you thinking about the course? What do you think about the riders?’ whether they’re going to make it or not.
“It all comes down to personal opinion I think between the groups. It’s a very demanding course. We sent people in Australia to ride it and check it out once we had the information, and also the staff from Cycling Australia go down and checked it out.
“If we speak specifically to the men’s elite road race, it’s going to be 4000 metres of climbing. It’s hard. It’s a hard course, and so, with that, I think it’s going to create a very exciting race for the fans, for the people of Wollongong, for the people of Australia, and everybody watching outside of Australia too.
“It’s not that pure course of let’s go to Qatar and do a flat sprint or in Innsbrook where it’s incredibly long climbs for the pure climbers, The good thing is that opens it up to all kinds of athletes coming in. But, at the end of the day, we have to make a decision on the course itself. It’s been a fun and interesting process to get to that point. “
Sutherland said they also had the “luxury problem” of having almost every available athlete nominate themselves for selection.
While that gave selectors plenty to work with, ultimately some riders missed out.
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