There is no such thing as second place for Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan.
You're either the winner of a bike race, or the first loser.
Fast men like the Lotto Dstny spearhead thrive off victories, especially in the lead-up to and during the Tour de France, where the momentum generated by triumphs often spurs more success.
Ewan is never short on motivation, but he was short on momentum in the lead-up to the 110th edition of the Tour, with his appetite for performing on cycling's biggest stages also starved.
"Pretty average" was how the 28-year-old described his season before the start of the race, counting one official victory, a string of minor placings and two photo finishes that commissaries did not adjudicate in his favour.
Ewan couldn't see the difference in the first, and still thinks he should have been awarded the second.
"I haven't really won much. I've only won one race, so I mean, for me, that's the only way you can judge a season, is off wins," he said.
"I don't think my form has been particularly bad or anything like that.I've been pretty unlucky a few times."
Entering the Tour, the five-time stage winner wasn't sure where he would land in what is a stacked sprint field that Belgian Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is currently dominating, taking his third victory on stage seven in Bordeaux on Friday, with Olympic track medallist Sam Welsford (Team dsm-firmenich) the best-placed Australian, finishing 13th in what is his Tour debut.
Ewan's program in the lead-up looked different to previous years, with even some team personnel questioning why he was competing in smaller races across Belgium as opposed to the bigger, more renowned events on the calendar.
Ewan would normally start the Giro d'Italia, where he has won a career five stages, in the run to the Tour but the team, after being relegated to the sport's second tier last year, opted not to compete.
He asked to go to the Criterium du Dauphine in June, a traditional litmus test for the Tour, but the request was denied, and he competed at the Tour of Belgium instead.
"It's probably the only race of the year that I get excited for," Ewan said of the Tour de France.
"I love the big stage, high pressure, it's a big event and I like that. I much prefer that than doing smaller races in Belgium, it doesn't really excite me that much, to be honest."
Ewan joined the Belgian-registered Lotto Dstny team in 2019 partly to race at the Tour, having been held back from it at his previous squad.
He effectively replaced German champion Andre Greipel as a figurehead and entered conscious of proving the hyperbole that Australian press had placed on his slight shoulders since he was a teenager.
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On reflection, Ewan described the mental stress of his Tour debut as unhealthy, also including the premature birth of his first child before it, but he still won three stages.
He claimed another two victories the next season and became a point of reference in the WorldTour, the sport's top-tier, placing an emphasis on quality over quantity victories.
But his fortunes at the Tour have changed during recentseasons, with Ewan fracturing his collarbone in four places in a crash on stage three in 2021 and finishing winless last year.
Although his preparation this season was different compared to previous, he said he was nonetheless happy with it and entered the Tour with a clear idea of what would constitute a successful campaign.
"Definitely a win, but I hope for more than just one," Ewan said. "If I left without any, I'd be very disappointed."
In the opening week, Ewan has been in the mix with Philipsen twice, finishing third on stage three and second on stage four.
"It's nice knowing that I have the legs to win. I just need everything to go right for me. I'm positive and the team's positive we can still win here," he said after stage four.
However, the causalities Lotto Dstny has incurred were felt in Bordeaux where Ewan was squeezed out of the contest and almost crashed, he said, losing momentum some 500m from the line.
Philipsen, who entered the Tour as the sprinter to beat, believes his advantage is the strength of his lead-out that includes Dutch champion Mathieu van der Poel.
Ewan has already lost of one of his key lead-out men in Jacopo Guarnieri, who crashed out on stage four. And another chief lieutenant, Jasper de Buyst, is still managing an injured wrist from a fall on stage two.
De Buyst wasn't involved in Ewan's first two sprints but helped to position him at the end of Friday's hot 169.9km run from Mont-de-Marsan.
"When I crashed, I thought, 'f--k, this is it,' but day after day it's getting better," de Buyst said. "I'm still in pain but I can hold my handlebar and do my effort."
Ewan's disappointment on Friday was obvious in the paddock, where he immediately boarded the team bus post-race and came out to speak to media later once changed.
He is competing at the Tour without the presence of his family, with his wife expecting their third child after the race ends in Paris on July 23.
"The first Tour I went to, my daughter was like way earlier than she should have been, she was supposed to come after the Tour but she came a month before the Tour, so that's why my wife has to really take it easy, like the last two months before the baby is due, just to make sure it stays in there and keeps cooking for a bit longer," he said.
The sprinters have another shot at line honours on Saturday before the Tour returns to the mountains.
"I think tomorrow is going to be a little bit tougher but on paper the finish does suit me; slight uphill with one kilometre to go, so hopefully that's a better one," Ewan said.
