Cadel Evans\' historic Tour de France win was hailed Monday as one of Australia\'s finest ever sporting achievements, ranked alongside Rod Laver\'s tennis exploits and their America\'s Cup yachting triumph.
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| L-R: Yellow jersey of overall leader, Australia\'s Cadel Evans, Luxembourg\'s Andy Schleck and Luxembourg\'s national road champion Frank Schleck ride on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue during the 95 km last stage of the 2011 Tour de France. |
The 34-year-old fulfilled his lifelong quest by securing the title, 30 years after pioneering compatriot Phil Anderson paved the way for dozens of young Australians by becoming the first non-European to pull on the yellow jersey.
"What can I say? I\'ve been dreaming of winning the Tour de France for the past 20 years, ever since I was a 14-year-old," he said, having finished runner-up twice before, in 2007 and 2008.
All the country\'s major newspapers carried his victory on their front pages, with some comparing the enormity of his feat to Australia\'s 1983 America\'s Cup yachting win.
The Sydney Morning Herald celebrated him conquering "one of Australian sport\'s last frontiers" with its cycling correspondent Rupert Guinness, who has covered the Tour since 1987, calling it a huge achievement.
"To watch Evans in a near-perfect tour has been an absolute pleasure. He didn\'t miss a beat for the entire three weeks," he said.
The Australian broadsheet compared Evans to other Australian cycling icons such as Anderson, as well as Stuart O\'Grady and Robbie McEwan, but said he was "undoubtably the greatest of them all".
Debate over where Evans\' win sits among Australian sporting achievements was a theme taken up by Sydney\'s Daily Telegraph, which ranked it second behind Rod Laver -- who won all four of tennis\' Grand Slams in the same year, twice.
When Australia famously clinched the America\'s Cup 28 years ago, then prime minister Bob Hawke declared that "any boss who sacks a worker for not turning up today is a bum".
And growing legions of cycling fans urged a public holiday Monday in honour of Evans. But Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who called to congratulate him, ruled it out.
"I had the opportunity to speak and to personally offer my congratulations. I believe I disturbed him while he was trying to get a nice, hot bath," she said, adding that they joked about his impact on the economy.
"I suggested that he wasn\'t doing much good for national productivity because everyone was coming to work bleary-eyed," she said.
"He suggested that it\'d all be all right in the end because people would feel so full of morale that they\'d be cantering into work and working harder.
"So I\'m not in a position to announce a public holiday, but I am in a position to share Cadel\'s view that ultimately we\'ll be more enthused about our daily tasks because we\'re celebrating his victory."
