Sprinter Caleb Yuan came within a stone's throw of a podium finish and possible victory on the first stage of this year's Giro d'Italia, and after 10 stages, his fortunes don't look much better.

By stage 8 last year, Ewan had already left the Giro d'Italia with two wins. After an opening day crash, Ewan finished just millimeters behind rival Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) on stage 6. On stage 10, instead of fighting for the win at the front, Ewan was fighting not to be thrown out at the back.

"The Giro from hell continued today. 'With around 80km to go we were down to just one man and we made it within the time limit.'

It was no surprise that most of the sprinters dropped out of the lead group, but Ewan has shown in recent seasons that his ability to survive small climbs has improved. If the legs and the race play out in his favor, he could again be on par with stage winner Biniam Guillemay (Intermarché Wanty-Gaubert-Matériault) and runner-up Mathieu Van der Pol (Alpecin-Phoenix).

"If you have really good legs, like on the first day, you never know," Ewan told CyclingPronet.

"Like the first day, with really good legs, you never know," Yuan told CyclingPronet.

The answer came sooner than expected, as Ewan was the first of the sprinters to fall, finishing more than 31 minutes behind the victorious Eritrean and 13 minutes behind a back group that included sprint rival Mark Cavendish (Quick Step Alphavinil).

"I feel like the Giro has been going downhill ever since my crash on stage one," said Cavendish. I have another chance to sprint tomorrow and I want to turn it around."

The 27-year-old said on his rest day that he plans to leave the race before the high mountains arrive on Saturday and focus on his performance in the Tour de France. That could mean leaving the race as early as Wednesday after the 203-km flat stage.

If Ewan decides to go further, there is still one more possible sprint to the high mountains. But to get there, he would first have to pass through the medium mountains of stage 12, and after finishing last in the hilly stage to Jessi, that suddenly seems like a big hurdle to overcome.