Once again Australia celebrates persistence of a Sportsman who has finally achieved his ambitions ! Some will remember Bob Hawke declaring that " Only a Bum will sack workers for taking the day off to celebrate "! This was after Alan Bond Achieved the " impossible " with winning the " America's Cup "!
WILL Julie Gilliard take the same attitude , of course Kevin Rudd would ! Wouldn 't he ?
Apologies to Cadel for my lack of belief in his ability to achieve this triumph , so many europeans asked me if i favoured his chances during the past years and i always answered that the " first 2nd place was as close as he would ever get "! Even on Thursday night i was certain that the effort expended to pull back Andy Schleck would have diminished his chances . When he got angry with Voeckler & Co i thought it was because he felt the need of their help but it was more ! I feel certain now that he was trying to help Thoma fight back , and had Voeckler made more of an effort he could today be standing on the podium instead of a Schleck !
Cadel has always been more of a sportsman than he appears at first glance and i am sure that carrying the team on his back once again has caused him to dig deep and suffer greatly to achieve the impossible task that we Australians expected of him !
Sadly today is marred by the tragedy in Oslo but there will be an abundance of Aussie flags on the Champs Elysee ! For my part i will be watching Eurosport as i had my run on that Parcours in 1998 during the caravan procession . Since then cycling around the back of the spectators has lost it's appeal .
Raising my glass i salute another fine Australian realising his ambition and hope that he will be chosen to carry the Australian Flag at London 2012 and will inspire another Australian Medalfest and perhaps bring home the Olympic Road Race Gold medal !
14 years riding the routes of the Pro Tours and finally i have seen THE AUSTRALIAN take the top step at the TOUR de FRANCE !
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