Very convincing victory for Caleb Ewan in his first Scheldeprijs.

Caleb Ewan from Lotto Soudal was supreme in the streets of Schoten, Belgium, in a mass sprint, which was marred by a serious crash. The Australian used his trademark late acceleration to move ahead of his rival sprinters and win Scheldeprijs on his debut in the sprinters’ Classic.

The Scheldeprijs is the oldest Flemish race on the international calendar. With 174 km, and start as well as finish in Schoten, the 108th edition was, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a shortened version of the traditional Scheldeprijs.

The 26-year-old Ewan was faster than Pascal Ackermann and Niccolò Bonifazio. Both riders were unable to match Ewan’s speed. Later, Ackermann was disqualified for a dangerous sprint.

“I felt really good. I started my sprint a little bit earlier than I was thinking of doing, but I was able to keep my speed and nobody came closer”, said Caleb Ewan. “For me the sprint wasn’t too bad as I was in front and my team always did a super good job. I was all day out of trouble, even in the sprint. I only saw on TV that they crashed behind me. It’s always a quite crazy sprint. I wanted to be up the front, out of trouble and that’s what the team did for me.”

“This is probably one of the biggest sprint classics. I haven’t won one of these classics before, so it’s super nice. Moreover it’s the first time that I’ve done this Scheldeprijs. I wanted to come here and we were really motivated. I know it’s really important for the team to have a big win in Belgium. So, I’m super happy that I could deliver that for them. We haven’t had a win in a classic of this level for a long time in the team. So, they’re going to be very happy. As it’s my first time here and now my first win, I am super happy to have this on my palmares now”, concluded Caleb Ewan.

Ewan’s next race will be the AG Driedaagse Brugge - De Panne on October 21st.