Australian cycling star Caleb Ewan has suffered an inauspicious start in his new team colours, with mechanical troubles putting him out of contention in Geelong.
Ewan finished a lap down in race one of the Bay Crits, effectively also putting him out of contention for his fourth series title.
Austrian Marco Haller and Australian star Amanda Spratt won the Tuesday twilight races in round one of the three-race series as the Lexus Blackburn Bay Crits returned after a year off.
While the Ritchie Boulevard hotdog circuit is normally a haven for the sprinters and bunch finishes, Haller won in a four-rider breakaway and Spratt stunned the women's race with her solo break that also stuck.
But the biggest news on day one was Ewan's dramas.
The top drawcard of the series pulled into the pits about 20 minutes into the one-hour elite men's race, reporting a tight head stem and a dropped seat post to race officials.
But head commissaire Karen O'Callaghan explained that under cycling rules, they were not mechanical mishaps.
That meant Ewan could not receive a free lap while his problems were fixed, meaning he was out of contention.
"I didn't exactly understand what the rules were, so I thought if you had a mechanical you could go to the pits," Ewan said.
"I hit a bump and my seat dropped down, so I couldn't really ride on it, so I pulled into the pits to put my seat back up.
"Then I thought they said I wasn't allowed to sprint, but apparently I wasn't allowed to go on the front at all. I don't know."
Ewan has joined the powerful Lotto-Soudal team as their sprinter after leaving Australian lineup Mitchelton-Scott under testing circumstances.
Mitchelton-Scott announced early last year that Ewan would make his Tour de France debut, but pulled him out of their Tour team as a late change.
By contrast, Spratt's win continues her outstanding form after the best year of the 31-year-old's career.
The Mitchelton-Scott leader won road race silver in September at the world championships.
The expectation was that she would be a support rider for Lexus Blackburn All-Stars teammate Chloe Hosking at the Bay Crits, given Hosking is one of the best sprinters in the women's field.
But Spratt had other ideas on Tuesday and had only her third win in 13 years at the Bay Crits.
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