Caleb Ewan will be better for under-23 tour experience, says Robbie McEwen Caleb Ewan prepares for the start of stage two of the 2014 Tour Down Under. Australian sprint great Robbie McEwen says rising star Caleb Ewan will continue to improve as a rider when he drops back to the under-23 ranks following his World Tour debut at the Tour Down Under. Nineteen-year-old Ewan, who will race with the Jayco-AIS under-23 team before joining Orica-GreenEDGE as a stagiaire (trainee) late in the year, has been on a steep learning curve, racing for the Uni SA-Australia team in the six-day Tour Down Under World Tour opener and, before that, in the People's Choice Classic criterium. "The challenge he may face is keeping motivation at under-23 level, because he knows he has already signed with a World Tour team and is itching to get back up there and be there all year," McEwen said. Ewan, who met McEwen before the final stage of the Tour Down Under to discuss areas in which McEwen felt Ewan could improve, found the tour mentally and physically draining. It was also painful, with the youngster carrying injuries he sustained in a crash during stage two to Stirling. It was a stage he had pinpointed as one to try to win, especially off the back of his confidence-boosting third place in the People's Choice Classic criterium behind German sprint stars Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) and Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol). Despite those injuries, Ewan finished the tour on Sunday, placing 15th in the sixth and final stage, an 85.5 kilometre circuit race in Adelaide, won by Greipel. "He [Ewan] said it had been a really steep learning curve, but overall it was a real positive experience with his third on the opening night," McEwen said. It shows what a winner's mentality he has. He was disappointed he had the crash on stage two, which was a stage he was really targeting ... and to go through the rest of the week struggling with the injury from the crash. But McEwen was sure Ewan would be better for the experience. "Maybe, in that respect, this [Tour Down Under] has been a good learning experience, and an eye-opener to say, 'All right, maybe I'm not completely ready to do this every single week,"' McEwen said. So take the lessons away, use them at under-23 level and keep developing. But he is very level-headed for a 19-year-old. I wish I was that mature when I was 19. McEwen said Ewan cited riding at high speed and at high intensity every day as something he had found difficult. He also said he had found it hard getting into position early and maintaining it. McEwen, who often used the tactic of following the team trains of his rival sprinters, advised the youngster from the southern highlands to follow "a team you know 100 per cent is going to get there every time." "Make yourself the eighth member [of their team]," he said. As for the immediate future, despite the lessons learnt and experiences gained, Ewan indicated on Monday that he might not back up for the Herald Sun Tour, from February 5 to 9, choosing instead to rest to ensure he is fresh for the season ahead. "I'll take a day or two to decide," Ewan said. I don't want to go to Europe overcooked.