Australian cyclist Caleb Ewan has called out his former Jayco AlUla team, saying they put him in a "bad situation" ahead of his move to Ineos Grenadiers.
Ewan left the Australian team earlier this year after being mysteriously removed from the squad list ahead of the Tour Down Under with one year still remaining on his contract.
During that race, it was confirmed that he would be signing for British squad Ineos Grenadiers in what many suspect could be the last roll of the dice.
Speaking on the Geraint Thomas Cycling Club podcast, Ewan said the uncertainty around his career left him questioning whether he even wanted to continue.
"There was a while where I didn't really know what I wanted to do," said Ewan, who added he was not loving riding amidst all the drama and the "politics" of the team.
"I was in a pretty shitty situation with my team … that was all going on and I honestly really did not know what my future was going to hold.
"It was a very stressful time for me and because of all that, I just didn't really know what I wanted.
"They put me in a bad situation and it wasn't ideal.
"But now I've kind of moved on a bit and I'm happy now that I've joined Ineos."
Geraint Thomas, who earlier in February confirmed this would be his last season, said it was important for Ineos to have a sprint focus, despite traditionally not being a squad built for a sprinter.
"I think it's a great thing, just from the team's point of view, having a sprinter … young guys, it gives them a focus every day," Thomas said.
"They learn so much doing a lead out and holding the side of the road, being in the bubble together.
"When I heard everything that was happening with you, I was like, that would just be a no brainer to me.
"I think it's going to be a good year, we'll focus the team a lot more, especially if Caleb can get back to his best.
"It just opens up 40 per cent more races."
Ewan competed for Jayco AlUla, then known as Orica Greenedge, from 2014 to 2018, winning stages at the Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia, before moving to Lotto Soudal for five seasons.
The Sydneysider won five Tour de France stages in his first two years with the Belgian squad, but results steadily tailed off, leading to Ewan being heavily criticised by the team for withdrawing from the 2023 Tour de France.
That precipitated a return to GreenEdge, where he was the second sprinter to Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen.
The 2024 season did not go to play for the 30-year-old though, noticeably at the 2024 Giro d'Italia, when Jayco AlUla hedged its bets in the final sprints by allowing German rider Max Walscheid — Ewan's lead out man after the abandon of Luka Mezgec — to sprint against him.
"You were both basically given the go ahead to sprint yourself, right?" Thomas said.
"That just seemed bonkers to me."
Ewan, who described the tactic as "strange", said it contributed to an uncomfortable atmosphere in the team.
"It was kind of like the back end of the Giro, I hadn't won anything yet, but I mean, that's the difference between, let's say, a good lead out man and not a good one," Ewan, who finished no higher than sixth in any sprint stage at the Giro, said.
"Like, my old lead out man from Lotto, Jasper [De Buyst], he would never at any point in a race say, 'I want to sprint for myself now,' it was always like, no matter how bad I was going or whatever, he always had 100 per cent faith in me until the very end that I would be able to pull something out.
"Whereas, yeah, I went to Jayco and new guys and they just… I'm not going to say it's understandable that they lost faith because it's not over until it's over, but it definitely makes it a lot harder when your lead out man is trying to sprint more than help you.
"The good lead out men always have a lot of faith in their sprinter, but as well, it takes time to build a relationship like that.
"But it's hard when the team's like, 'your lead out man is going to be sprinting you as well'.
"It kind of ruins the whole team dynamic.
"I'm not going to say I blame them because I hadn't won and there was still a few sprint stages to go, but the guy that was supposed to lead me out, I mean, I don't think he's ever won a World Tour race.
"So I don't know why, all of a sudden, they thought he was going to win a Giro stage.
"But the way the team was, I can't change that, it's what it was."
Ewan only won three races in 2024, including the National Criterium Championships, and acknowledged that he would not be "the main guy" at Ineos.
However, Ewan believes he has identified one of the prime issues with his sprinting.
"If I kind of review the last four years or five years, I think maybe I focused too much on the climbing, getting stronger, and abandoned my sprints a little bit," Ewan said.
"Last year when I did the Giro, I got through it a lot easier than I've ever got through a grand tour, but I could hardly sprint.
"I was nowhere in the sprints, so I was lacking what I was supposed to be good at, but better at what doesn't really necessarily matter for me.
"And if I look back at the tours that I've done well in, there's been many, many days that my team really had to help me through to get through to the finish.
"So I think that's one thing that we've kind of identified since I've joined the team.
"And I'm definitely going to go back to more, let's say, sprint-based kind of stuff and even going back on the track as well, so the main focus now is to get the speed back, which is what I should be naturally good at."
Ewan will open his Ineos career at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali on March 25, before heading to the Tour of Romandie on April 29.
"It will be my first race after six months off," Ewan said.
"I think the team wants me to go there, see if what I'm doing is working … and then once we get to Romandie, it's kind of every second week I'm racing."
Ewan said he hopes, "in an ideal world" that he will go to the Tour de France, where he has won five stages in his career in 2019 and 2020.
"I think that's probably my biggest dream … to try to go back there and be at my best again, like I was a few years ago."
