Away from the roadside toasts and the pageantry of the Tour de France finale, for six Australian riders there was the achievement of simply finishing the world's most famous race.
Australian Caleb Ewan 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.The 28-year-old was late to return to the team bus as organisers began to take down the gantry.
Finishing the Tour is considered an achievement in itself and that was especially so for the Australians who made their race debuts this season. 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."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 would have done the trip just to see him ride the Champs-Élysées, let alone the rest because that's the buzz, that's the jewel on top of the crown, the ride up and down the Champs-Élysées," Mr Hamilton said. One of those guys was Matt White, who is now a sports director at BikeExchange-Jayco and guided Schultz at his first Tour."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.
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