Luckless Australian Tour de France star forced to withdraw after yet another crash that underscores a miserable season

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Australia's cycling sprint star Caleb Ewan has again had to abandon the Tour de France, fatigued and beaten up by the brutal race once again.

The marquee Lotto-Dstny rider had battled courageously on Thursday to just beat the time cut on what he felt had been one of the hardest stages of his career, declaring after being helped home by teammate Jasper de Buyst: 'Today sucked but we made it.'

Yet his relief was short-lived, as he was quickly out the back on unlucky stage 13 on Friday, and forced to withdraw in obvious discomfort, clutching his abdomen, before the peloton up ahead had even started the climb of the feared Grand Colombier.

'Leaving the Tour is a real shame. I want to express my gratitude to the team for their big support and I hope they can still show some nice things in the stages to come,' said the 29-year-old on the team website after his latest disappointment of a miserable season by his stellar standards.

Last year, the man who annexed five Tour de France stage wins down the years won the 'Lanterne Rouge' as the 134th and last finisher in Paris at the end of a Tour in which he had suffered two crashes, injuries, bad luck and missed opportunities.

Ewan grimaces as he crosses the finish line to finish in second place during the fourth stage of the Tour de France

His luck ran out at the 13th stage, involved in a crash that has forced him to withdraw from the Tour de France

In 2021, it was much worse as he crashed out of the race with a broken collarbone at the finish of the third stage.

This year, he had earned two podium places - third on stage three and runner-up the following day - but it only continued the trend of near-misses in what he felt had been one of the worst seasons of his distinguished career.

Belgian team Lotto-Dstny said in a statement: 'After struggling with fatigue for several days, He (Ewan) fought hard but it just wasn't possible to continue.'

Team director Stephan Heulot told SBS Sport: 'It was a very difficult day, since yesterday and today he wasn't in good shape or a good mentality.

'It was difficult for him, difficult for us. We saw immediately after the last sprint it would be difficult for him to continue for a long time in the race.

'We can see the start of the season for Caleb is a little bit the same as this Tour, it's a pity.

'Yesterday he spoke about giving up. We tried to motivate him, but I guess it was a problem in the legs.'