An unprecedented race interruption due to a coronavirus outbreak has not quelled Caleb Yuan's ambition to be the best sprinter on the World Tour. The Australian sprinter will resume racing with Lotto Soudal's teammate Philippe Gilbert in Milan-Torino on Wednesday as a prelude to Milan-San Remo on Saturday.

La Primavera is Ewan's first major objective of the revised season, which includes the Tour de Wallonie (August 16-19), Tour de France (August 29-September 20), and Giro d'Italia (October 3-25). He has not competed since March, despite a stage win and points prize in Paris-Nice and two stage wins in the Tour Down Under.

"It's the only monument I can win, or the only monument I have a chance of winning. It's my career goal. When I finish, I want to have that name in the palm of my hand. It's the only realistic goal that I'm missing," Ewan said in a telephone interview from Monaco.

The 25-year-old is acutely aware that his other goal for the season, to run 13 days between two Grand Tours, is impossible. However, he remains committed to competing in both events, as the Giro offers a tempting cuisine and attracts nearly all the leading sprinters.

"Like last year, the best sprinters in the world compete in the Giro and the Tour separately. 'If you enter the Tour this year and just win the Tour, you haven't beaten all the strong guys,' he said."

"I'm already back to my best form. 'I think after a few races I'll be ready again for the Tour. I'm confident in my form so far. I'm happy with the way I'm feeling right now."

The route change and the postponement of Milan-San Remo to March are additional factors that Ewan has taken into account in his bid for the title.

"I'm good at preparing for races without racing. I have a good coach and I know what I need and what I don't need before the race, whether I need more intensity or more endurance."

"I've had several discussions with my coach about how I should approach this season, about how to build up my training for the races. I haven't been able to put it into practice yet because I haven't raced yet. But if I'm off the numbers, I'm in as good shape as I've ever been. That doesn't necessarily translate to the race, but I hope it does because that's all I have. I feel good when I'm riding, I feel good when I'm trying.

Last Friday, Euan scouted part of the Milan-San Remo route change. This year, instead of following the Ligurian coast, it will head inland.

"Basically, the course doesn't hit the coast until just before Cipressa. 'If you look at it, it shouldn't make that much difference. We didn't see the last climb just before Chipressa, the new climb. The three capis before Chipressa have been removed, but one climb has been added. Probably harder than the capi, but maybe the previous course was a little harder."

"The other issue is the heat," Ewan continued. We scouted the Cipressa and Poggio courses [on Friday] and it was very hot, over 35 degrees. It was over 35 degrees.

"It's a new course, a new time of year, and it's going to be pretty strange," he said.

It remains to be seen if the changes will work to Yuan's advantage. Last year he was 29th, and in 2018 he was second behind Vincenzo Nibali.

"One thing that doesn't work in my favor is that the wind usually comes in from the sea around this time of year. That means that on the climb there is a tailwind, which is not what I want.

"I'm hoping it's no wind. If it's a tailwind, it's going to be very hard. A few things have to go right for me to win. Hopefully this year it will favor the sprinters."

Ewan is no stranger to pressure, as he made an unbelievable debut with three stage wins in last year's Tour de France, but he and 38-year-old Gilbert will carry the burden of expectation in Italy.

Gilbert, a seven-time Grand Tour stage winner, was asked who else he thought was suited for the race, and he named only one.

"My teammate Gilbert. 'If it's a difficult race for me to finish, it's perfect for him, but if it's easy enough for me to finish, it's not difficult enough for him.'

"San Remo is hard anyway. It's really hard, the climbs have a tailwind, it's hard all day long, and select riders like Phil make it to the finish. Or it will be a slightly easier day, with a headwind on the climbs and 40 or 50 people finishing.

"It puts a little bit of pressure on me that the whole team's focus is not on me alone because my chances change depending on the weather," Yuan continued.

"If the weather is not in my favor, at least I have another option, so it's not so stressful for me."

Ewan is a resident of Monaco, and at one point was unable to train outdoors while the sovereign nation was on lockdown.

"I was a little worried for a while because in Holland and Belgium the players could train. I was locked in my apartment in Monaco, and then I saw on social media all the athletes doing 300 km rides, and I thought, 'Oh no, maybe,'" Ewan said.

"There wasn't much going on as far as my professional life. I did a whole bunch of stuff like Ergo and Zwift, but it was boring. 'I don't enjoy riding a bike for the sake of riding a bike. I like having a goal and working towards it. [I knew the season would probably restart at some point, so I always had the motivation I needed to keep things going.

"But on the positive side," Ewan countered, "I think we're going to have a lot of fun. I think that the second half of the season is going to be more important because there are more important races coming up, and I think that those in my situation, who were not allowed to train, will have an advantage in the second half of the season."