Cadel Evan’s history-making Tour de France victory on Sunday was as much a testament to patience as it was to endurance.
At the age of 34, the softly spoken Australian rider put aside the disappointment of two runner-up finishes to finally stand atop the podium on the Champs-Elysees as champion of cycling’s greatest race.
In a meticulous race, run to a strategy of almost military precision, Evans won only the fourth of 21 stages on this year’s Tour, but always remained within striking distance.
Photo: AFP
It was only on the last competitive leg — the individual time trial — that Evans claimed the leader’s yellow jersey from nearest rival Andy Schleck and his ultimate prize after 20 years of cycling.
Wrapped in the national flag and with tears in his eyes, Evans listened as French-based Australian singer Tina Arena sang the national anthem after he became the first Australian, the oldest rider since World War II and the first man from outside of Europe and the US to win the most prestigious race in cycling.
“I couldn’t be any happier. A few people always believed in me. I always believed in me and we did it,” Evans said.
He celebrated after crossing the finish line in the peloton on the Champs-Elysees, embracing riders from different teams as the massive crowd on France’s most famous thoroughfare cheered wildly.
Evans bounded up the steps onto the podium, taking deep breaths, then appeared at the top looking calm and waved the bouquet he received in the air.
“Thank you to everyone. It’s really incredible,” he told the crowd.
Evans was joined on the podium by the Schleck brothers of Luxembourg — Andy, who finished second overall for the third straight year, and Frank. Andy finished 1 minute, 34 seconds behind Evans in the final standings.
Evans’ Italian wife, Chiara, stood at his side after the presentation ceremony.
“I think he’s worked very hard,” she said.
Evans is only the third non-European to win the Tour since it started in 1903. Greg LeMond broke the European dominance in 1986 with the first of his three wins and fellow American Lance Armstrong won seven straight from 1999.
It’s been a long wait for Evans, who first showed himself as a challenger for major races in 2002. He finished second in the Tour in 2007 and 2008.
Evans is the oldest winner of the Tour’s post-war period, narrowly eclipsing Gino Bartali of Italy — who was also 34, but slightly younger when he won in 1948. The all-time record was set by 36-year-old Firmin Lambot of Belgium in 1922.
“Cadel was the best of the Tour and he deserved to win,” the 26-year-old Andy Schleck said. “Second isn’t bad, and my brother was on the podium too. I’ll be back to win this Tour. We have a date for next year.”
This year was a far cry from the Tours of recent years that were dominated almost from the start by Armstrong or, later, Alberto Contador. This was a race that defied predictions and was still hanging in the balance on the final weekend.
Evans rarely made his presence obvious, but he was always there. Up every mountain he was never more than one bicycle length behind his rivals. He knew that he didn’t need to attack in order to win.
Still, when Andy Schleck broke away from the field on the climb of the Galibier Pass on Thursday, observers thought Evans’ BMC team had made a critical mistake, but Evans remained calm.
He went into Saturday’s time trial needing to make up almost a minute on Schleck — he did much better than that, finishing the stage more than two-and-a-half-minutes quicker than Schleck.
“The real highlight was the last three to four kilometers of the time trial yesterday, because I knew we were on the right track,” Evans said.
The polka-dot jersey awarded to the best climber went to Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez of Spain, who took his two children on to the podium with him. The best young rider was Pierre Rolland of France, who won the classic climb up the Alpe d’Huez on Friday.
Before setting off on Sunday, the riders removed their helmets and observed a minute’s silence in tribute to the victims of the attacks in Norway.
“When this kind of thing happens, everybody forgets about the sport,” Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd said. “It’s not even important in comparison.”
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