Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Former top-class cyclist Robbie McEwan has backed Australia to become a dominant force in long-distance road cycling over the next few years.
The Australian riderwon 12 stages in the Tour including the prestigious final stage on the Champs-Elyseesin Paris twice during his career.He was widely recognised as one of the best sprinters in the sport.
Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France in 2011, and McEwan believes it is only a matter of time before one of his compatriots matches the feat.
“We had Cadel win the Tour de France in 2011, and he’d been the benchmark for a long time for our GC riders,” he said to online betting site Betway.
“Then you had Jai Hindley coming second at the Giro d’Italia a couple of years ago and Richie Porte coming third at the Tour de France.
“We have been waiting to see who’s going to be our next one to win a Grand Tour, and then Jai won the Giro – it was just incredible.
“When I commentated on it, I followed him really closely and I was in contact with Jai, just trying to really support him. That was just awesome.”
Australia has plenty of other talented riders at their disposal, with Caleb Ewan and Michael Matthews amongst their top names.
While Ewan has struggled to live up to expectations in this year’s race, Matthews bagged the fourth stage win of his career last weekend.
Matthews had been the rider with the most top-three, top-five and top-10 finishes, but had not won a stage on the Grand Tour since 2019.
However, he finally set the record straight to power home in stage 14 and prove he has the talent to be a major force in the long-distance race.
Matthews’ wait for a stage win bore some similarities with McEwan’s attempts to break his duck in the most gruelling event of the season.
He had completed two Tours in 1997 and 1998, but finally got his name on the roll of honour by claiming victory in the final stage in 1999.
However, McEwan says the first of his green jersey wins in 2002 was the standout achievement of his illustrious cycling career.
He ended Erik Zabel’s run of six victories in a row to cement his status as one of the finest sprinters of his era.
“It was a huge honour to win it, and it wasn’t lost on me the importance of winning a jersey at the Tour de France,” he added.
“Phil Anderson won the young rider classification back in the day and finished fifth overall. So, being the first one to win the green jersey was a massive moment.
“I was really proud as an Australian, from our far-flung country with quite a small history of winning at the Tour de France. It was really a proud moment to win that for Australia, as well as for myself and my team.”
