McEwen plans big 2010

Australia's sprint star Robbie McEwen has put behind him a horror 2009 season and targeted a successful return to the racing in January’s Tour Down Under.

However, with the field including American star Lance Armstrong and Aussie world champion Cadel Evans, McEwen's aim to stand on the winner's podium in Adelaide could be a little too optimistic.

"I've been second and third overall before; the year I got second Pat Jonker won the race after he went off in a breakaway on the first day, which sewed up the overall," he told Cyclingnews.com.

"The idea for me is to try and be in top form when I get there and try to challenge for the overall.

"There are no huge mountains in the race – there are a couple of climbs, but I wouldn’t call them mountains – there’s no time trial but you’ve got to be going really well."

Serious crashes in April and May and subsequent knee surgery brought a premature end to McEwen's year but the thought of retirement never entered the mind of the 37-year-old.

"Obviously I had a huge setback this year, breaking my leg at the end of May," McEwen stated.

"I tried to come back from it quickly but I had some persistent problems with the tendon because…  there was so much scar tissue around the tendons that there was a lot more work to do. (The surgeon) had to remove all the scar tissue from around the patella tendon."

McEwen's rehab has been on track since surgery in September and he is back on the bike every day as he looks to make up for lost time.

"I've been back on for a month and today, for instance, I did 120km without pain and it's looking better all the time. Things are going well," McEwen explained.

"I didn’t have any thoughts about stopping – I did have the thought, 'What if this hadn’t happened? I would’ve had a great year'."

As well as the 2010 TDU, McEwen is planning a big schedule for the year ahead.

"I was really keen (prior to 2009) to ride until the end of 2010. It was my goal to at least make it to the end of 2010, ride the worlds in Geelong as part of the Australian team and weigh up, maybe in the second half of the 2010 season, what I see myself doing,” he said.

"That could be stopping or doing another year… who knows?"

The three-times Tour de France green jersey winner is adamant that he will be the one that decides when enough is enough.

"The most important aspect is that I want to go out on my terms, when I feel like I'm ready to stop," he added.

"I don’t want to be forced by an injury, so I'm constantly giving it everything to get better and back where I belong."