Opinion: 'No luck at all' - The sad state of Caleb Ewan and Lotto-Soudal after team crash at Tour de France

“If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all” wrote rhythm and blues singer William Bell. Despite being recorded and released in the sixties, Lotto-Soudal’s Caleb Ewan could be forgiven for believing «Born Under a Bad Sign» to be a contemporary track all about him. Ad/> The Australian “pocket rocket” has completed 24 Grand Tour stages so far this season.

He hasn’t won any, seriously contesting just a single sprint, Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia, in which he lost out to Arnaud Demare by the smallest of margins. On two further occasions he has — literally — fallen victim to crashes, on days in which he was expected to compete. Tour de France'Hammer blow' — Reaction to shock crash and 'excruciating pain' for Ewan at TourAN HOUR AGO Today’s nightmare, which came with 71km to go, as his team was working to pull back a seven-strong, defiant breakaway, simply should not have happened.

It was not directly his fault, but it was that of his team, which means he bears some responsibility, even as he may opt to direct his ire towards other seats on the bus. As unlikely an occurrence as it might have been, it’s easy to imagine how it can happen. And while it ought, therefore, to be entirely forgivable, there can be no excuse for making such an elementary mistake as completely missing a corner and sending your team’s only hope of taking anything from the day crashing to the ground.

At the Tour de France you have 150-plus rivals trying to force you to make mistakes, such that you cannot afford to make unforced ones. Moreover, you are there because it is expected, demanded, that you won’t. 'Oh no, horrible!' — Shock as Ewan and entire Lotto-Soudal team crash at corner 'Hammer blow' — Reaction to shock crash and