Australian cyclists at the Tour de France
Australian cyclists have ridden in the Tour de France since 1914.[1] In the 1980s, Phil Anderson became the first Australian cyclist to win a stage and wear the yellow jersey. Cadel Evans has been the only Australian cyclist to win the yellow jersey by winning the 2011 Tour de France.
History
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Australian cyclists have competed in the Tour de France since 1914 with Don Kirkham and Iddo Munro being the first representatives.[1][2] Australian participation was sporadic until the 1980s. Two notable Australian riders before the 1980s were Hubert Opperman and Russell Mockridge, a gold medallist from the 1952 Olympic Games.[3]
In the 1980s, Phil Anderson, Allan Peiper and Neil Stephens heralded Australian cyclists increased focus on the Tour.[3] In 1991, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) established a road cycling program under Head Coach Heiko Salzwedel. This program lead to the development of many future Australian touring cyclists including Robbie McEwan, Patrick Jonker, Michael Rogers and Henk Vogels.[4][5][6] In conjunction with the AIS road cycling team, the AIS track cycling program under the guidance of Charlie Walsh was developing endurance track riders including Stuart O'Grady, Bradley McGee and Brett Lancaster.[7] Cadel Evans who won the Tour in 2011 was an AIS mountain bike scholarship holder in the lead up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.[8] By 2010, there were 11 Australian cyclists on the Tour.[9] In 2011, Orica-GreenEDGE was launched with financial support from Australian Gerry Ryan and made their debut at the 2013 Tour de France. Cadel Evans became Australia's first and only winner of the Tour in 2011.[1]
In November 2014, Cycling Australia announced its Tour de France Team of the Century to recognize Australia's first participation in the Tour. The team comprised nine riders: Cadel Evans and Phil Anderson (general classification), Richie Porte and Michael Rogers (domestiques), Robbie McEwan (sprinter), Bradley McGee and Mark Renshaw (sprint lead out riders), Simon Gerrans (all rounder) and Hubert Opperman (team captain).[10]
Special Broadcasting Service has broadcast the Tour to Australian television viewers since 1991.[11]
Statistics
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Overall statistics at the end of the 2019 Tour de France[12][13]
- 60 Australian cyclists have ridden in the Tour from 1914 to 2019.
- Australia had 12 cyclists at the 2012 Tour de France and followed by 11 cyclists at the 2013 Tour de France and 2018 Tour de France.
- Stuart O'Grady has ridden 17 Tours, followed by Phil Anderson with 13 tours
- Cadel Evans is the only Australian cyclist to win the Tour de France – 2011
- Phil Anderson was the first Australian stage winner and yellow jersey holder.[14]
- seven Australian cyclists have worn the yellow jersey – Phil Anderson, Bradley McGee, Stuart O'Grady, Robbie McEwan, Cadel Evans, Simon Gerrans and Rohan Dennis
- three Australian cyclists have won the green jersey – Robbie McEwan, Baden Cooke and Michael Matthews
- six Australian cyclists have held the green jersey – Stuart O'Grady, Robbie McEwan, Bradley McGee, Baden Cooke, Rohan Dennis and Michael Matthews
- no Australian cyclist has won the polka dot jersey
- only one Australian cyclist has held the polka dot jersey – Cadel Evans
- only one Australian cyclist has won the white jersey – Phil Anderson
- two Australian cyclists have held the white jersey – Phil Anderson and Rohan Dennis
- one Australian cyclist has been the last placed finisher, known as the Lanterne rouge and wore the discontinued red jersey – Richard Lamb[15]
- there have been 33 individual stage wins by 13 Australian cyclists (includes dual nationals) – Robbie McEwan – 12, Michael Matthews – 3, Caleb Ewan – 3, Stuart O'Grady – 2, Bradley McGee – 2, Phil Anderson – 2, Simon Gerrans – 2, Cadel Evans – 2, Michael Rogers – 1, Neil Stephens – 1, Rohan Dennis – 1, Baden Cooke – 1, Heinrich Haussler – 1 [16]
- there have been 9 Australian cyclists that have been members of stage team time trial wins – Stuart O'Grady – 2, Simon Gerrans – 2, Simon Clarke – 1, Rohan Dennis – 1, Matthew Goss – 1, Brett Lancaster – 1, Cameron Meyer – 1, Allan Peiper – 1 and Richie Porte – 1
- five Australian Olympic gold medallists have ridden in the Tour – Russell Mockridge, Stuart O'Grady, Bradley McGee, Brett Lancaster and Luke Roberts
Leading Australian cyclists
Australian cyclists that have competed in five or more Tours de France as of the start of the 2019 Tour.[12]
| Cyclist | Tours | Individual Stage Wins |
Team Time Trial Stage Wins |
Jerseys held | Jerseys won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stuart O'Grady | 17 | 2 | 2 |   | |
| Phil Anderson | 13 | 2 | 0 |  | |
| Robbie McEwan | 12 | 12 | 0 | | |
| Simon Gerrans | 12 | 2 | 2 | | |
| Michael Rogers | 11 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Mark Renshaw | 10 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Cadel Evans | 9 | 2 | 0 |  | |
| Adam Hansen | 9 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Richie Porte | 9 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Neil Stephens | 7 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Baden Cooke | 6 | 1 | 0 | | |
| Stephen Hodge | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Brett Lancaster | 6 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Luke Durbridge | 6 | 0 | |||
| Patrick Jonker [n 2] | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Bradley McGee | 5 | 2 | 0 | | |
| Allan Peiper | 5 | 0 | 1 | | |
| Michael Mathews | 5 | 2 | 0 | | |
List of Australian cyclists
| DNS | Denotes a rider who did not start, followed by the stage before which he withdrew |
| DNF | Denotes a rider who did not finish, followed by the stage in which he withdrew |
| DSQ | Denotes a rider who was disqualified from the race, followed by the stage before which this occurred |
Table includes dual national Australian cyclists.
See also
- List of Australian cyclists who have led the Tour de France general classification
- Category:Australian Tour de France stage winners
Notes
- O'Grady has admitted that he had taken EPO prior to the 1998 Tour de France "I doped for 1998 Tour de France, confesses Australian cycling star Stuart O'Grady". The Advertiser. Adelaide. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- Patrick Jonker is a dual Netherlands and Australian national but rode for Australia at 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. "Patrick Jonker". Sports Reference - Olympic Sports. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
- Bill Lawrie in Tour de France is listed from Great Britain but was from Australia.
- Květoslav Palov nationality is in dispute. Tour de France database listed him from Czech Republic but other sources indicate he had Australian citizenship. Bacon, Ellis (2004). Cycling anthology. Volume 2. London: Yellow Jersey Publishing. ISBN 9780224099561.
- Heinrich Haussler, a dual German and Australian national, rode for German teams until 2010. "Haussler renounces German citizenship". Cycling News, 8 July 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
References
- Culbert, David (26 June 2013). "Tour de France: 45 riders make up Australia's proud history at Le Tour". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- Fry, Craig. "John Beasley — Australia's oldest living Tour de France rider". Cycling Tips. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- Guinness, Rupert (2003). Guinness, Rupert. Aussie Aussie Aussie Oui Oui Oui! Australian Cyclists in the 100 years of the Tour de France. Sydney: Random House. ISBN 1740512456.
- "Salzwedel: back to British Cycling". Eide Media website. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- Bacon, Ellis; et al. (2014). The Cycling anthology. Volume 3. London: Yellow Jersey Press. ISBN 978-0956781482.
- "Once Were Warriors". Bicycling Australia 2010. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- "Reflecting On A 'Legend' : Charlie Walsh". Cycling Tips, March 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
- Traill, Jim. "Cadel Evans: A long ride to the top step". ABC Local Stories, 11 August 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
- "Passion, Performance and Powermeters". Cycling Tips, July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- "Cycling Australia announces Tour de France team of the century". Cycling News, 21 November 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- "The world's greatest race, Tour de France on SBS". SBS Media Release, 16 June 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Australia at the Tour de France". Tour de France website. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
- "Tour de France". Australian Cycling Memories website. Archived from the original on 28 February 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Cadel Evans cycling collection". National Museum of Australia website. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- "Lanterne Rouge". Cycling Tips, July 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- "Tour de France: Aussie Michael Matthews breaks Tour jinx to win 10th stage". ABC News. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
External links
Further reading
- O'Grady, Stuart and Homfray, Reece (2014), Battle Scars, Melbourne, Hardie Grant.
- Evans, Cadel (2011). Cadel Evans : the long road to Paris, Melbourne, Hardie Grant. 2011.
- McEwan, Robbie and Pickering, Edward (2011),One way road, Sydney, Ebury Press.
- Guinness, Rupert (2009). What a ride from Phil Anderson to Cadel Evans : an Aussie pursuit of the Tour de France, Sydney, Allen and Unwin.
- Curtis, Martin (2008), Russell Mockridge : the man in front, Melbourne, Melbourne Books.
- Peiper, Allan with Sidwells, Chris (2005), A Peiper's tale, London, Sport & Publicity.
- Guinness, Rupert (2003), Aussie Aussie Aussie Oui Oui Oui! Australian Cyclists in the 100 years of the Tour de France, Sydney, Random House Australia.
- Anderson, Phil with Valentine-Anderson, Christi (1999), Philip Anderson : cycling legend, Melbourne, Lothian.
- Opperman, Hubert (1977), Pedals, politics and people, Sydney, Haldane Publishing.
- Sir Hubert Opperman interviewed by Mel Pratt in the Mel Pratt collection (1975), National Library of Australia
- Burrowes, John (1960), My world on wheels : the posthumous autobiography of Russell Mockridge, London, Stanley Paul.