Vive Le Tour

The Tour has now been won and run, and it finishes with mixed emotions for many.

The media reports today capture that range of emotions, from the "subdued finish" in Paris, the disappointment of fans, the hopes for the future in the youger riders and the teams taking a stand against doping, and for us Aussies, the pride of seeing an Australian on the podium for the first time ever.

Saturday afternoon here in Europe was tense as the final time trial got underway. A 55km solo race against the clock, and the big question was whether Aussie Cadel Evans could catch the race leader, Spaniard Alberto Contador, who started the day 1:50 ahead of him.

In the end, Evans nearly did it, falling 23 seconds short. The surprise was third place Levi Leipheimer nearly catching Evans, finishing just nine seconds in arrears. Watching it live on telly was pretty exciting, willing Evans to catch Contador, then getting nervous as Leipheimer crept up and threatened the second place.

It was so near, yet so far in the end. After 3570km, and more than 90 hours of racing, it came down to 23 seconds. "Sorry I didn't win it," was Evans response for all the Aussie fans. Hardly necessary after such an achievement, but nonetheless an unusual response from an elite sportsman.

Rupert McGuiness, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, put the result nicely in context:

"Evans was on the verge of pulling off the single greatest sporting triumph by an Australian athlete, one surpassing the 1983 America's Cup win, Cathy Freeman's 2000 Olympic 400 metres gold medal run, Kieren Perkins's 1500 metre Atlanta Olympic win in 1996 from lane eight - or any of Ian Thorpe's Olympic, world championship or world-record breaking feats."

Now journo's love a bit of hyperbole, but I think this captures the significance of it in a sporting context very nicely.

There are lots of other articles about the Tour out there today, many of them asking the question of what next? There is no simple answer, but the end of politicking in the sport, and a period of self reflection for all of those involved in the sport would both be good starting points.

Shane