Caleb Ewan continued his excellent start to the seaon when he made it three in a row in the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic. On his day when his Orica-GreenEDGE team was riding for Cameron Meyer, it all came down to a bunch sprint where the young Australian beat Steele von Hoff and Alexander Edmondson.

At 20-years of age Caleb Ewan continues to make the world of cycling sit up and listen, taking his third victory in as many starts at the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic today.

This afternoon’s victory in Portarlington, on a course expected to be more suited to endurance riders, has many again comparing Ewan to Australian superstar Robbie McEwen.

But another victory tomorrow could put the youngster in a class of his own as the first rider to achieve a clean sweep of races at any one Bay Classic.

Humble in victory Ewan was again thankful for the work of his teammates, which he acknowledged makes his job a lot easier.

“I am a little bit (surprised),” Ewan said of his form. “You never know how your form is going to be coming into the first part of the year.”

“I found this stage tougher (than yesterday) because even if you’re sitting on the wheel you can’t hide from the hills so it was really tough for me.

“But the main reason is because I have such a strong team here. In the previous years no full pro teams have come here in support of one rider and that’s what they have done for me.”

ORICA-GreenEDGE went into the stage looking to give West Australian Cameron Meyer an opportunity to ride for the stage win but were equally as happy to fall back to the alternate plan of setting up Ewan.

“We came into this race with a few different plans so it took the pressure right off me,” Ewan explained. “Unfortunately for Cam (Meyer) he didn’t get away, there were a few strong guys here, and it worked perfectly for me in the end.”

Sport director Matt Wilson credited the role of Meyer, who switched to the team role when it became apparent today wasn’t to be his day.

“We really thought that Cam would be able to get away here and have a good chance at the win but he was just too heavily marked I think,” Wilson said.

“But he quickly switched into teammate role and looked after Caleb for the sprint.”

The Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic wraps up tomorrow in Williamstown.

Results:

1. Caleb Ewan 59.25

2. Steele von Hoff

3. Alexander Edmondson

4. Miles Scotson +0.02

5. Ryan Thomas

6. Aaron Gate

7. Ian Bibby

8. Keagan Girdlestone

9. Joseph Lewis

10. Kristian House 

General classification:

1. Caleb Ewan 36

2. Greg Henderson 13

3. Ian Bibby 12

4. Ryan Thomas 11

5. Joseph Lewis 11

6. Steele von Hoff 10

7. Mitchell Docker 10

8. Alexander Edmondson 8

9. Richard Kluge 8

10. Miles Scotson 7