The last time Caleb Ewan (Jayco-AlUla) raised his arms in triumph in a Grand Tour currently dates from the Giro d'Italia in 2021, and the Australian sprinter returns to Italy this May hoping that the Giro is where he can close the circle and finally put a much-desired end to that three year drought on success.
Before his current dry spell on Grand Tour stage wins, Ewan had had a very successful relationship with the Giro d'Italia, with five sprint victories in three participations in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
But from 2022 onwards, things have gone increasingly askew for the Australian, with 2023 seeing him add just one win to his total of 61, his worst season since turning pro in 2015.
Time to put things back on track, then, and this time round the 29-year-old told reporters on Friday, he's come to the Giro with two objectives. Goal number one is to complete the entire race, something he's never tried to do before, given his previous obligations to rest up before the Tour de France - which he will not be racing this year - and goal number two is, of course, to get his strike rate of wins back up to speed.
Ewan explained, too, that with fellow sprinter Dylan Groenewegen in the team, the option of a return to the Tour de France in 2024 had never been on the table when last winter he finally put pen to paper to make his return to Jayco-AlUla, the team which saw him turn pro, after five years at Lotto-Dstny.
The decision to miss the Tour was "pretty easy," he said, "because when I was speaking to Jayco late last year, that was always the plan because Dylan wanted to do the Tour and I was happy to skip it and do the Giro."
"The good thing is this is the first time I'm going to be able to attempt to finish the Giro. That's something I wanted to do for a while and it's also going to be a bonus as there's a sprint on the last stage."
"So it was a pretty easy decision and the Giro is my main focus for the year."
This year Jayco-AlUla are far from keeping their Giro eggs in one sprint-shaped basket, though. Eddie Dunbar will be their main man for the GC, Filippo Zana has already shown last year at Val di Zoldo what he's capable of winning in the Giro's high mountain stages, and there's considerable interest, too, in how Australian double National Champion Luke Plapp fares in his Giro d'Italia debut.
Despite these multiple objectives for the team, Ewan will be able to count on significant support in the final dash for the line though, with veterans Max Walscheid and Luka Mezgec on key leadout duties.
"Luka is really important, I need a strong lead-out team and he's super experienced. We rode together for a few years before I left the team in 2018 and I can trust him," Ewan said. "He's done a great job in the last few years, too."
"Together with Max Walscheid, I know I can leave it to them to be sure that I am in the position to try and win some stages."
When it comes to victories in 2024, though, Ewan's one triumph to date this season dates from the Tour of Oman's opening stage. However, the Australian sprinter says that his most recent numbers in training show he's on a promising upward curve in condition.
"I had a good training camp and I feel good. My numbers are similar to when I've been at my best," he said. "You can never tell until you start racing, and actually see the form of your competitors. But up to now, I feel really good so we'll see how we go when we start."
"It's really nice to be back at Jayco, too, especially as they are an English-speaking team, and it's always more comfortable to be in a home nation team."
"If there's a team that's going to get me back to my best, this is the one."
With so many pieces of the winning puzzle in place, then, the key question mark over what Ewan achieves in his sixth Giro d'Italia is - logically - how his form compares with his rivals. But with 11 Grand Tour stage victories already in his palmares, as Ewan put it himself on Friday, "I don't feel I have anything to prove but I want to get back to winning more often, like I did a few years ago."
"I'm in the right environment to do that now, so I can only compare to my own form from the previous years and it seems to be up there with my best."
"It's always hard to tell until you start racing, but for now I feel really good, so I think I can definitely compete with the best for sure."
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Giro d'Italia - including journalists reporting breaking news and analysis on the ground from every stage of the race as it happens and more. Find out more.
