Six out of nine Australians survived the fastest Tour de France ever recorded and on Sunday rode into Paris where dreams were both realised and shattered.
They say the 21st and final stage of the Tour is ceremonial but that is a misconception.
Sure, the beginning was an opportunity for riders to chat between themselves, which there was otherwise no time for at this year’s especially physical and demanding event.
Yellow jersey winner Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and the other classification leaders fanned out at the front of the bunch, smiling at the TV cameras.
All was merry as the race got underway, even though their mass fatigue was evident.
However, when the bunch reached the capital and came around the Place de la Concorde for the traditional finishing laps along the Champs-Élysées, the racing, for one last time, was on again.
Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) had hoped to turn his luck at this year’s Tour around on the unevenly cobbled avenue, which serves as an unofficial world championship for sprinters like him.
However, the five-time stage winner left the Tour empty-handed.
The 28-year-old was late to return to the team bus as organisers began to take down the gantry.
As his teammates, staff and their families celebrated, Ewan rued a missed opportunity, saying he got boxed in by Norwegian veteran Alexander Kristoff (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert).
“He just came up next to me and started closing me into the barriers,” Ewan said.
“It’s annoying when a slow sprinter comes and gets in your way because he knows he can’t come around those guys, so he knows he’s just messing up my sprint.”
Ewan took away only one positive from the 109th edition, in which he crashed multiple times and was well-supported but also disadvantaged by a comparatively weaker lead-out that he wasn’t familiar with.
“I came here to try to win,” he said.
“I struggled a lot in a lot of the stages and in the end, I came away with nothing, so it’s been disappointing for me.
Finishing the Tour is considered an achievement in itself and that was especially so for the Australians who made their race debuts this season.
Chris Hamilton, Nick Schultz and Michael Storer all made the 3,343.8km journey, which started in Copenhagen on July 1, traversing through the Alps, the Pyrenees and many villages in-between, before reaching Paris where friends and family were waiting for them.
For Hamilton, having his father Keith, who is also an avid cyclist, around to watch him compete not just in Paris but throughout the third week was special.
The 27-year-old, from Bendigo, is accustomed to three-week racing, having competed at the Giro d’Italia five times and the Vuelta a Espana twice.
But the Tour de France was different for the climber.
“There’s always so much hype around the Tour. Once we got through the first week it all started to be a bit more normal, but the first week was pretty tense,” Hamilton said.
“I always like the third week because it’s so different to all the normal racing. Everyone is on the limit, has got sore legs and is hurting.
Keith Hamilton was in Paris on Sunday to watch his son, who he still goes mountain biking with.
For him, the beauty of cycling is that it’s something they can share.
Schultz found his calling when he was six after watching a cycling highlights package on television with his dad.
Thereafter he nagged his parents for months to get more involved in the sport.
He would attend off-season criteriums in his hometown of Brisbane, along with Noosa and the Gold Coast, meeting pros he idolised.
“I’d always go along to those races and be in awe of the professionals who’d be in their off-season and having some fun at these races,” he said.
“I’d always try and get their race numbers at the end and get them to sign it.
One of those guys was Matt White, who is now a sports director at BikeExchange-Jayco and guided Schultz at his first Tour.
“Everyone talks about it being on another level and I completely agree with that,” Schultz said.
“Everything that comes with it, the stress, there’s never a dull moment. I haven’t been able to catch up with any mates in the bunch during the race, which often on the odd sprint stage you do get a chance to do on the other races, and that’s not been the case here.”
The Australian-registered team had a sensational Tour, winning two stages.
Michael Matthews rode away from the field for a victory on stage 14 in a performance that his team director White said was the most impressive ride of his career.
Matthews adapted to the new, more dynamic style of racing, which generational talents like Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar have had a hand in ushering in.
“For me, my favourite Tour so far was still 2017 with two stage wins and the green jersey but I guess those sort of victories are expected out of a rider like me,” Matthews said.
“Where I think this year on stage 14 in this Tour de France, that stage win was unexpected from the crowd and more exciting to watch, which is the style of racing I love to do, so hopefully I get more opportunities to do that style of racing.”
The team lost road captain Luke Durbridge during the Tour, who tested positive to COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw.
Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech), who claimed his maiden stage victory in Arenberg after navigating treacherous cobble sectors normally reserved for classics specialists, also later abandoned due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) crashed out for the second consecutive season and Ben O’Connor’s hopes of becoming the third Australian to finish on the podium were dashed.
O’Connor (AGR2R-Citroen) battled through crash-related injuries but later withdrew to focus forward.
The Tour this year was a race like none seen in recent times, from how it was raced, to the heat that left the usually snow-capped Alps barren, to the stressful spectre of a positive COVID-19 test that could deny competitors the chance to finish.
As the sun set on the Champs-Élysées, riders returned to team buses parked near the Place de la Concorde where their family and friends, who they haven’t seen for about a month, warmly greeted them.
Hamilton and Schultz acknowledged one another as they rolled past each other in the melee, trying to find their respective camps.
Tonight, the peloton will rest, tomorrow, many will probably start planning for next year.
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