# Robbie McEwen

Robbie McEwen AM (born 24 June 1972) is an Australian former professional road cyclist. He is a three-time winner of the Tour de France points classification in 2002, 2004 & 2006 and, at the peak of his career, was considered the world's fastest sprinter.
He last rode for Orica–GreenEDGE on the UCI World Tour.
A former Australian BMX champion, McEwen switched to road cycling in 1990 at 18 years of age. He raced as a professional from 1996 until 2012.
McEwen retired from the World Tour after riding the 2012 Tour of California and is now a cycling broadcast commentator on the Tour Down Under, the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and most of the major races for Warner Brothers Discovery networks like Eurosport, Discovery+ & Max Sports.

## Career

McEwen was born in Brisbane. After four years of moving through the regional, state and national levels of cycling, he started at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra under road cycling coach Heiko Salzwedel. The first signs of his sprinting prowess on the international stage were at the Peace Race, winning three stages for the Australian national team.
McEwen competed in the road race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games (23rd) and the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games (19th). He was also included on the Australian team for the 1994 UCI Road Cycling World Championship in Italy, and the 2002 UCI Road Cycling World Championship in Belgium, where he won a silver medal. McEwen was again selected for Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games (11th) as part of the road race team.
McEwen was named 2002 Australian Cyclist of the Year, 2002 Male Road Cyclist of the Year and 1999 Male Road Cyclist of the Year. After spending 16 seasons racing for foreign teams (Dutch: Rabobank & Farm Frites; Belgian: Lotto; Russian: Katusha; USA: RadioShack), McEwen signed for the new Australian GreenEDGE team in September 2011 after it gained a ProTeam licence for the 2012 season.

### Tour de France

McEwen participated in the Tour de France on 12 occasions: 1997 (117th), 1998 (89th), 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. Over the years, he has won 12 stages. In 1999, McEwen won the final stage sprint in Paris on the Champs-Élysées. In 2002, McEwen won stage 3 (Metz–Reims) and stage 20 (Melun–Paris). In 2004, McEwen won stages 3 and 9. In 2005, McEwen won stage 5 to Montargis, stage 7 to Karlsruhe in Germany, and stage 13 to Montpellier. In 2006, McEwen won stages 2, 4 and 6 to Esch-sur-Alzette, St Quentin and Vitré respectively.
He started the 2007 Tour with a victorious sprint on stage 1 to Canterbury. The stage win was seen as remarkable as he had crashed with 20 kilometres (12 mi) to go. He injured his knee and wrist but with the help of his team he clawed his way back to the bunch to win the sprint by over a bike length. The injuries he sustained from this crash did not prevent him from continuing but eventually he was forced out of the race when the Tour entered the Mountains, his knee injury became worse and he failed to finish stage eight within the time limit.
In 2002, McEwen became the first Australian to win the Tour de France points classification. By 2006, McEwen had won the Tour de France green points jersey three times in this race – in 2002, 2004 and, again, in 2006 – defeating rivals such as fellow Australians Baden Cooke and Stuart O'Grady, and international competitors like Erik Zabel of Germany, Tom Boonen of Belgium and Thor Hushovd of Norway.
McEwen's first win in the 2002 Tour de France saw him win the green jersey from German legend Erik Zabel, with O'Grady third and Cooke fourth. In 2004, McEwen won the points classification for a second time, defeating Hushovd and Erik Zabel. McEwen had fractured two transverse process (vertebrae) in a mass pile up on stage 6 and continued the race in extreme pain, making his stage 9 win in Guéret all the more remarkable.
McEwen won his third and final Points classification in the 2006 Tour de France, this time with Zabel second and Hushovd third.
In 2012, he announced that the Tour of California would be the last professional race of his career. He struggled to reach the finishing line of the mountain stages in the gruppetto. He humorously said after his arrival on the final stage in Los Angeles: "This was a good race to pick as my last because I suffered so much this week I won't miss it." He was awarded the "Most Courageous Rider" jersey at the end of the race to commemorate his last day of professional cycling. After retiring from racing, McEwen remained with Orica–GreenEDGE as a technical adviser and sprint coach.

### Commentating

In 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, Robbie McEwen commentated on the Tour de France's world feed in English, alongside fellow Australian Matthew Keenan.
In 2021 he featured on SBS Australia's coverage of a number of cycling races, but his contract was not renewed for 2022.
He commentated on the Santos Festival of Cycling for the 7 Network Australia, and joined GCN (Global Cycling Network) in March 2022.
McEwen co-hosted the Seven Network broadcast of the 2023 & 2024 Santos Men's Tour Down Under used by Peacock in the US alongside Anna Meares and Phil Liggett. He then went on to feature on Eurosport's coverage of the 2024 Tour de France as both a pundit on The Breakaway and as a race commentator.

## Sprinting style

McEwen was known as a particularly cunning and tactical sprinter. Where many teams would use lead-out trains to secure a stage win for their selected sprinter, McEwen achieved many of his victories either with one lead-out man, or often none at all, by aggressively and intelligently positioning himself within the peloton in the final kilometres.
Fellow Australian cyclist Stuart O'Grady considers McEwen to be "one of the fastest, most powerful accelerators the planet has ever seen".

## Personal life

McEwen lives in Australia with his Belgian wife, Angélique Pattyn, his son, Ewan, and his daughters, Elena and Claudia. In 2011, McEwen published an autobiography entitled 'One Way Road'. McEwen lived for many years in the Belgian town of Everbeek and is fluent in Dutch.

## Major results
### 1994

    Peace Race
       1st Stages 3, 6b & 9
    1st Stage 1 Tour de l'Avenir

### 1995

    Overall winner - Tour of Wellington
    1st Stage 4 Regio-Tour
    1st Stage 6 Tour de l'Avenir

### 1996

    1st Luk-Cup Bühl
    1st Stage 4 Vuelta a Murcia
    1st Stage 2 Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt
    1st Stage 3b Regio-Tour
    1st Stage 4 Tour de l'Avenir
    4th Overall Herald Sun Tour
       1st Stages 1b, 8b & 10b

### 1997

    1st Overall Geelong Bay Classic Series
       1st Stages 1, 2 & 4
    Ronde van Nederland
       1st Stages 2 & 3a
    1st Stage 2 Four Days of Dunkirk
    1st Stage 3 Tour de Luxembourg
    4th Trofeo Alcúdia
    5th GP Stad Zottegem
    10th Overall Danmark Rundt

### 1998

    1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Andalucía
    1st Stage 5 Geelong Bay Classic Series
    9th Overall Ronde van Nederland
       1st Stages 3a & 5

### 1999

    1st Overall Geelong Bay Classic Series
       1st Stages 1, 4 & 5
    1st Stage 20 Tour de France
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg
    1st Stage 1a Route du Sud
    Herald Sun Tour
       1st Stages 3 & 6
    2nd Trofeo Luis Puig
    4th Dwars door Gendringen
    9th Overall Ronde van Nederland
       1st Stage 2

### 2000

    1st Trofeo Alcúdia
    1st Stage 6 Tour Down Under

### 2001

    1st Trofeo Calvià
    Herald Sun Tour
       1st Stages 3 & 4 (ITT)
    International Uniqa Classic
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2 & 3
    1st Stage 2 Ronde van Nederland
    1st Stage 2 Tour Méditerranéen
    8th Overall Tour de Wallonie
       1st Stage 4
    8th Nokere Koerse

### 2002

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    1st Overall Étoile de Bessèges
       1st Stage 1
    1st Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
       1st Stages 2 & 3
    1st Scheldeprijs
    1st Paris–Brussels
    1st Delta Profronde
    1st RaboRonde Heerlen
    Tour de France
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 3 & 20
    Giro d'Italia
       1st Stages 4 & 10
    Paris–Nice
       1st Stages 2 & 7
    Tour Down Under
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 1, 3, 4 & 6
    2nd Road race, UCI Road World Championships
    2nd GP Rik Van Steenbergen
    3rd Tour du Haut Var
    3rd Veenendaal–Veenendaal
    4th Omloop Het Volk

### 2003

    1st Dwars door Vlaanderen
    Giro d'Italia
       1st Stages 4 & 11
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse
    1st Stage 3 Tour Down Under
    1st Stage 4 Étoile de Bessèges
    3rd Veenendaal–Veenendaal
    4th Grand Prix de Fourmies
    6th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
       1st Stage 3
    7th Delta Profronde
    Tour de France
       Held after Stages 1–5, 18 & 19

### 2004

    1st Gouden Pijl
    1st Memorial Samyn-Fayt-le-Franc
    1st Profronde van Oostvoorne
    Tour de France
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2 & 9
       Held after Stage 3
    Giro d'Italia
       1st Stage 5
       Held after Stage 5
    Tour de Suisse
       1st Stages 2 & 4
    2nd Overall Tour Down Under
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 1 & 4
    2nd Overall Tour of Qatar
    2nd Scheldeprijs
    2nd Delta Profronde
    2nd Veenendaal–Veenendaal
    4th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
       1st Points classification
    8th Sparkassen Giro Bochum

### 2005

    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    1st Overall Bay Classic
       1st Stages 1 & 4
    1st Paris–Brussels
    1st Grand Prix de Fourmies
    Tour de France
       1st Stages 5, 7 & 13
    Giro d'Italia
       1st Stages 2, 6 & 10
       Held after Stage 2
       Held after Stages 2–3, 6 & 10–12
    Tour Down Under
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 1, 2 & 6
    1st Stage 4 Tour de Suisse
    1st Stage 5 Tour of Qatar
    1st Stage 4 Niedersachsen Rundfahrt
    3rd Grand Prix d'Isbergues
    4th Paris–Tours

### 2006

    1st Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 1
    1st Paris–Brussels
    1st Down Under Classic
    Tour de France
       1st Points classification
       1st Stages 2, 4 & 6
    Giro d'Italia
       1st Stages 2, 4 & 6
       Held after Stages 4–12
    1st Stage 1 Tour de Romandie
    1st Stage 7 Herald Sun Tour
    2nd Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
       1st Stage 2
    2nd Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    3rd Overall Tour Down Under
    4th Grand Prix de Fourmies
    5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships

### 2007

    1st Paris–Brussels
    Tour de France
       1st Stage 1
       Held after Stage 1
    Giro d'Italia
       1st Stage 2
       Held after Stages 2 & 4
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Romandie
    1st Stage 1 Tirreno–Adriatico
    1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
    1st Stage 5 Tour Down Under
    1st Stage 3 Jayco Bay Classic
    1st Stage 3 Eneco Tour
    2nd Scheldeprijs
    3rd Schaal Sels
    4th Milan–San Remo
    6th Gent–Wevelgem
    6th Paris–Tours
    8th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
    9th Omloop Het Volk

### 2008

    1st Vattenfall Cyclassics
    1st Paris–Brussels
    Tour de Suisse
       1st Stages 3 & 4
    1st Stage 2 Tour de Romandie
    3rd Scheldeprijs
    6th Paris–Tours

### 2009

    1st Down Under Classic
    1st Trofeo Cala Millor
    1st Stage 3 Tour de Picardie

### 2010

    1st Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
    1st Stage 1 Eneco Tour
    2nd Scheldeprijs
    2nd Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    4th Overall Tour Down Under
    6th Grand Prix de Fourmies
    7th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens

### 2011

    1st Overall Tour de Wallonie-Picarde
       1st Stages 1 & 4
    1st Stage 4 Tour de Wallonie
    2nd Tour de Mumbai
    4th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    5th Scheldeprijs
    8th Grand Prix de Fourmies

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | DSQ | — | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | — | DNF | DNF |
| Tour de France | 117 | 89 | 122 | 114 | — | 130 | 143 | 122 | 134 | 114 | DNF | 119 | — | 165 | — |
| // Vuelta a España | — | DNF | DNF | — | 139 | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |
| DSQ | Disqualified |

## Recognition

In 2015, he was an inaugural Cycling Australia Hall of Fame inductee. In 2019, inducted into Sport Australia Hall of Fame.