Cycling sprint ace Caleb Ewan signs for UK team INEOS

Caleb Ewan, one of Australian cycling's all-time greats, has signed a one-year contract with powerful British team INEOS Grenadiers for the 2025 season, convinced it can transform his faltering fortunes in the saddle.

Sydney's 30-year-old "Pocket Rocket", a winner of 11 Grand Tour stages in a distinguished career that's brought him 63 professional race wins, believes he'll be refreshed by joining INEOS after an uneven year at Australian outfit Jayco-AlUla.

There had been speculation for weeks about Ewan's future with Jayco after his name was omitted from their 2025 line-up following a first season in which he won three races but didn't resemble the lightning performer who was for so long one of the real flyers in the peloton.

After a troubled spell with Belgian outfit Lotto Dstny, it's now four years since Ewan claimed the last of his Grand Tours wins - made up of five Tour de France, five Giro d'Italia and one Vuelta a Espana - but he's convinced the new move will reinvigorate him.

"This is a really exciting new challenge for me and a fantastic opportunity to get back to my best with the incredible support of the Ineos Grenadiers," Ewan said in a statement.

"In 2025, my goal is to return to winning big races. It's been a few years since I've won some of those major events but I firmly believe I have it in me.

"I'm still only 30, and with the right guidance and the expertise that Ineos brings, I believe I can rediscover my best form here."

Ewan, who is joining an Ineos training camp in Europe, said the team was yet to finalise his race program.

"While the INEOS Grenadiers are often seen as a GC-focused team, I see huge potential in the wider group they have to support a sprinter," he said.

"Over the past few years, I would often reference INEOS in sprint stages because their riders consistently positioned themselves perfectly in the decisive moments. That's exactly the kind of expertise I'm excited to work with.

"Joining a new team always comes with adjustments, but I already know many of the guys, and everything I've heard about how the team operates gives me confidence that the integration will be smooth."

Ewan's manager Jason Bakker remains tight-lipped about the departure from Jayco AlUla, but called the move to Ineos Grenadiers "a great result".

"He's far too young to retire. He has far too much motivation within him and I think he would have regretted it down the track," Bakker told AAP.

"I'm glad that's not the situation.

"If Caleb didn't feel he could get back to his best, or be the best version of himself, he wouldn't do this."

Since Italian Olympic and world champion Elia Viviani left INEOS, they've been looking for a star sprinting option as they revamp their squad, with Ewan being their sixth new signing, alongside another former Jayco rider from Australia, Lucas Hamilton.

Owned by petrochemicals billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, the tycoon now overseeing footballing operations at Manchester United, INEOS had their worst season in 2024 and are looking to rebound.

One of their biggest stars, former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, is rapt to have Ewan on board.

"I've said for a while, if we could have a top sprinter, especially when we go to Grand Tours ... when you're going for stages, it's pretty obvious you need a sprinter and not just any old sprinter," Thomas said on Friday before stage four at Adelaide's Tour Down Under.

"Caleb is a quality bike rider ... super-happy to have him in the team.