One of Australian cycling’s most electric talents is heading back to where it all began, with Caleb Ewan returning to Adelaide as a special guest of the Santos Tour Down Under in January.
Ewan, who announced his retirement from professional cycling earlier this year, will rejoin the race that launched his career and delivered an extraordinary 14 victories across stages and criteriums. For fans, it’s a rare chance to reconnect with a rider whose explosive sprinting style became synonymous with summer cycling in South Australia.
During the 2026 Santos Tour Down Under, Ewan will appear in the City of Adelaide Tour Village, take part in Talking Tours, hospitality and ticketed events along the race route, and feature on Channel 7’s broadcast coverage.
Ewan’s international résumé places him firmly among Australia’s greatest sprinters. Across his career, he claimed 11 Grand Tour stage wins, including five at the Tour de France, secured four national criterium titles, and twice finished runner-up in the gruelling 294-kilometre Milan–San Remo. Yet for many local fans, his most memorable moments came on South Australian roads.
The now 31-year-old made his professional debut at the Tour Down Under in 2014 and went on to win nine stages and the race’s Classic event five times. His most dominant year came in 2017, when he claimed Stages 1, 3, 4 and 6, along with the opening night criterium.
“I’m looking forward to being there in a much more relaxed manner,” Ewan said. “There’s always such a great vibe and a party atmosphere… Whereas now, I’ll get to enjoy the fun side of it as well.”
“It will be great to mingle with the crowd… It will be nice to enjoy it from the other side.”
While every win at the Tour Down Under holds a place in his memory, Ewan says two victories stand above the rest. “I always liked the Stirling stage because it was always a bit of an unknown,” he said. “For a day like Stirling it was a question mark whether you’d make it or not, so that one always felt good.”
Since retiring earlier this year, Ewan has moved back to Australia with his family and is now based in Sydney. He’s still riding regularly, alongside running, but says his relationship with the sport has shifted.
“I love going out on my bike and the social aspect of it. I don’t miss doing really hard efforts and really long days,” he said. “When you stop you come back to the reason you fell in love with the sport in the first place… I think I’m back at that point now.”
Reflecting on his career, Ewan says there were no unfinished goals. “I’ve done everything I could have wanted in my career,” he said. “Winning on the Champs Elysees was the highlight… it capped off a great race.”
Events South Australia Executive Director Hitaf Rasheed said the race was thrilled to welcome Ewan back. “Caleb has an incredible record at our race and cycling fans had a real connection with him having watched his career from start to finish,” she said.
The Santos Tour Down Under will run across South Australia from January 16 to 25.
For more info visit https://tourdownunder.com.au/
