Advertisement

Aussie cyclist blows victory with premature celebration

Caleb Ewan says he made a massive 'rookie error' when he celebrated too early and saw Marcel Kittel beat him on the line at the Abu Dhabi Tour.

The Aussie cyclist got caught out in stage two of the race, starting to celebrate as Kittel lunged ahead to take the victory.

"I'm usually pretty good at sprinting all the way to the line," Ewan said.

Woops! Image: Eurosport
Woops! Image: Eurosport

"Kittel was coming with a fair bit of speed and I didn't see him coming. It was a massive rookie error on my part.

"Obviously, I learned to sprint all the way to the line and even throw on the line even if I think I have it comfortably."

"It was a bit embarrassing, more than anything, I have to go back to my team and explain what I did," he added.

Ewan. Image: Getty
Ewan. Image: Getty

It hasn't been a great 48 hours for the Aussie, who was hospitalised after a crash in the opening stage.

Kittel and Ewan rode their bikes to the finish line with bruises after crashing with one kilometre remaining, ruling them out of the final sprint.

Ewan was sent to a hospital for checks after hurting his shoulder, but was given the all clear.