Tour de France 2011

Today the 2011 Tour de France bike race came to an end. This was a memorable year and some of the most fantastic racing in the total history of the Tour. Certainly it seemed so for me and it was the opinion of many of the aficionados who have been watching the races for many years. Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour in the whole of the race's history. He was also — at 34 —the oldest rider to win a tour at any time since World War II. And he deserved it. He is a wonderful champion. This is his 9th Tour and many thought that after poor placings in 2009 and 2010 after placings 2nd in 2007 and 2008 he was past his best and he could never win the Tour. But his was an example of dogged determination and persistence; he was totally committed and he was never going to give up. He has been a professional bike rider for 20 years and this is the peak of everything that he has done. Cadel Evans has been a morose man over many a year; a man who looks about to burst into tears or have a nervous breakdown. When he wins there are tears. He is a man who cannot hide his emotions and it is clear that what he wanted more than anything in this life was to win the Tour de France. He showed this many times in this year's race but never more so than when he set off in pursuit of Andy Schleck up the mountain from Briancon to Col de Galibier. Un-assisted he went after the Luxembourg rider with Thomas Voeckler on his back wheel. Cadel's face was an image of concentration and the subjugation of pain as he forced himself upwards. And Voeckler hung on to keep the yellow jersey for another day. On Stage 19 Andy Schleck took the yellow with Frank Schleck 2nd 57 secs behind and Cadel Evans 59 seconds behind. Thus it all came down to the individual time trial on Saturday. Here Cadel Evans not only made up the 59 seconds he went a furthier 1min35 secs ahead to win convincingly. He was imperious, all powerful, the not-to-be-beaten man.

At the end Cadel Evans was all smiles — at last — and there were tears. There is no doubt about the power of his emotions but he is a man with a big heart and the dogged persistence that will always win through in the end. His wife is not very interested in bike racing but she will appreciate the magnitude of what he has achieved. He will go down in the record books as one of the all-time greats. Perhaps not blessed with the natural talents of a Lance Armstrong but no less a rider. He is going to get some welcome when he goes back to Australia.

In writing about Cadel Evans I cannot miss recording the massive achievement of Mark Cavendish, the "Manx Missile" who today won the final stage sprint on the Champs Elysee and took the green jersey for the best sprinter. Today was his third consecutive win on the Champs Elysee and he is the first Briton to win the green jersey, ever. In fact the only other British rider to be wearing a Tour jersey in Paris was Robert Millar, crowned king of the Mountains in 1984. Mark Cavendish now has 20 stage wins to his credit. Only Eddie Merckx [Belgium] [34], Bernard Hinault [France] [28], Lance Armstrong [USA] [25], Andre Leducq [France] [ 25], Andre Darrigade [France] [22] and Nicolas Frantz [Luxembourg] [20] have equalled or exceeded Mark Cavendish's total and none has achieved 20 stage wins in less than five years. However, Andre Darrigade is the only one on that list who has not achieved at least one overall win of the Tour. Can Mark Cavendish go on to do that as well? He is not a man for the mountains but who knows. Like Cadel Evans, he is a great bike rider but when it comes to the sprint he is the best in the world. Also he is very emotional and he feels failure. If he does not win in a sprint he believes that he has let down the other members of his team who look after him and get him into the right position for those awesome sprint finishes. This keeps him awake at nights. He still has much to give and he can only get better.
British riders did themselves proud in this Tour and I think British riders are going to be serious contenders in the next few years. Remember Bradley Wiggins [eliminated by a bad accident], Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift, Peter Kennaugh, David Millar and others all of whom are exciting prospects.

I have said many times that these bike riders are the greatest athletes on the planet. I believe that even more after this year's fabulous Tour. Congratulations to all 168 riders who covered the full 3,500 kms and made it onto the Champs Elysee. You deserve our applause and respect.

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