Tour de France: Cadel Evans makes history

Published on Saturday 23 July 2011 19:49

CADEL Evans will ride into Paris today as the first Australian ever to win the Tour de France.

His performance in yesterday's penultimate stage, before today's traditionally processional stage into the capital, finally settled one of the closest and most captivating races in years, with Evans doing enough in the 48km time trial in Grenoble to wrest the yellow jersey from Andy Schleck.

Going into the race with a deficit of 57 seconds on Schleck, the Australian was placed third in the overall standings, also trailing Schleck's older brother, Frank. But the Luxembourgeois siblings are renowned for their ability in the mountains rather than against the clock, and although Schleck staged a thrilling attack on Thursday, winning at the Col du Galibier, the crucial fact was that neither he nor his brother gained enough time in their favourite terrain. Evans was the clear favourite going into his strongest event, the time trial, and he duly delivered.

That outcome remained in doubt only for as long as Schleck, the last man to start, was held up in the start house, and given the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown. From the moment he rolled down the ramp, and set out on the undulating roads around Grenoble, the stick-thin, gangly Schleck began losing time to the compact, powerful Evans.

At the finish, Evans, who finished second on the stage, was mobbed by TV crews and reporters, but quickly found sanctuary behind the podium. When Andy Schleck eventually appeared he too found himself in the midst of a mob, but as Frank tried to reach his brother he was knocked from his bike and almost trampled in the crush.

That seemed to sum up a Tour de France in which the brothers, leading their much-vaunted Leopard Trek team, promised so much, but didn't deliver the ultimate prize. But consolation for the Schlecks comes in the shape of their own historic achievement: the first brothers ever to stand on the final podium, with Andy set to claim second today, and Frank third, just ahead of one of the Tour's other heroes, Frenchman Tommy Voeckler. Evans's piece of history as the first Australian, and first non-American English-speaking winner, is set to resonate long and loud in his native land.

The prime minister has declared a public holiday on Monday, and the mayor of the town in which he spent his teenage years, Geelong, has started a campaign for Evans to be knighted. What is certain is that Evans is now guaranteed sporting immortality in a country that treasures its sports stars as others do rare cultural artefacts.

For Evans, victory in the Tour de France is the reward of a long, frequently painful, battle.The 34-year-old has been the most consistent rider of his generation, twice finishing second in the Tour, in 2007 and 2008, despite suffering for much of the 2008 race with the injuries from a heavy crash. That seemed to be his best chance; he bombed in 2009, and crashed, breaking his arm, while in yellow last year. Many thought this year was his last chance. Second again would have entitled him to challenge the retired Frenchman, Raymond Poulidor, who finished second on three occasions in the 1960s and 70s, and was called the "Eternal Second". Now the dubious honour falls to Andy Schleck - it is the third year in a row he has placed second, but the first time he has lost to someone other than Alberto Contador. But the younger of the two Schlecks is only 26; he has time, and the example of Evans, a first-time winner at the age of 34.

Evans's timing this year has been impeccable. He has ridden close to the front the entire race, and won stage four at the Mr-de-Bretagn, but he avoided the pressure that comes with wearing the yellow jersey to claim the lead at the last possible moment. There is still today's short road stage into Paris, but that is traditionally an occasion for champagne and celebrations, before a sprint finish on the Champs-lyses. Schleck was the first to concede defeat last night, hailing Evans as a deserving winner, as the Australian appeared - in yellow for the first time in this Tour - for what is unambiguously called the "winners' press conference".

This saw a suitably erratic show from an eccentric, and often awkward, sportsman, who can be articulate on topics such as the plight of the Tibetans, but who frequently resorts to gibberish - in a confusing mixture of English, Italian and French - when he talks about his sport. He was lucid, though, when he movingly spoke about his former coach, Aldo Sassi, who died from a brain tumour late last year.

"Since I watched my first Tour de France, 20 years ago, a lot of people have believed in me," said Evans. "It was Aldo Sassi who always believed in me, often more than I did." Evans could barely speak for sobbing as he added: "He said to me (that] 'at one point, one year, I hope you can win a Grand Tour, and I hope it's the Tour de France, and, if you do, you'll become the most complete rider of your generation'."

To the suggestion that he'd ridden "the perfect Grand Tour", Evans said: "We had some little problems here and there. Andy Schleck and Leopard made a really bold move to the Galibier. But the key aspect of our Tour is consistency. The guys who got me here - the team who delivered me to this point, in this position, were incredible."

Evans's BMC team, bankrolled by the Swiss businessman Andy Rihs, has indeed played a blinder, surrounding Evans almost from the moment the Tour left the Vende, and offering the kind of strong support in the mountains that he has lacked in the past.The team, said Evans, "started as a little idea when everyone doubted me, and no-one wanted to know me".

Another of the Tour's heroes, Voeckler, who held the yellow jersey for ten days, will finish fourth in Paris today - a rare high overall placing for the home country, though Voeckler will be disappointed to have gone so close to the podium, only to see it disappear in the final 48 hours.

The only competition still to be decided is the green jersey of points winner, with Mark Cavendish leading Jose Joaquin Rojas. The Manx sprinter is the favourite to confirm himself as the winner on the Champs-lyses today; Cavendish has won this stage for the last two years, and victory for a third time would see him become only the second British rider, after Robert Millar's King of the Mountains victory in 1984, to claim one of the Tour's three major jerseys.

1 Cadel Evans (Aus/BMC) 83hrs 45mins 20secs

2 Andy Schleck (Lux/Leopard) +1:34"

3 Frank Schleck (Lux/Leopard) +2:30"

4 Thomas Voeckler (Fra/Europcar) +3:20"

5 Alberto Contador (Spa/SaxoBank) +3:57"

6 Samuel Sanchez (Spa/Euskaltel) +4:55"

7 Damiano Cunego (Ita/Lampre) +6:05"

8 Ivan Basso (Ita/Liquigas) +7:23"

9 Tom Danielson (US/Garmin) +8:15"

10 J-C Peraud (Fra/AG2R) +10:11"