Now that the Tour de France is over and my celebrity is going through the roof (cough), I think I may put in a call to Serge Borlée, Cadel Evans's hulking bodyguard. I'm gonna be needing some protection from the cycling groupies. They're a persistent mob.
Ever wondered what it's like to be the Tour de France favourite? Well Silence Lotto's Australian star Cadel Evans offers SBS his daily thoughts on his journey to Paris - and says he is already looking forward to next year's race.
Talk to any of the Euro aficionados following the Tour and they tell you Cadel Evans is a shoe-in to make-up the required 94 seconds on Carlos Sastre in Saturday’s time trial.
Another awesome stage in the mountains last night, sadly the last of the big hors-catégorie climbs, the fabled Alpe d'Huez. Again, not beating our own drum here, but the coverage was superb. Top-notch.
Can I make a special request of Tour de France organisers and ask that all stages take place in the Alps?
Did you all enjoy the Tour de France rest day? I can only imagine how many thousands of zombies showed up late for work in Australia following Simon Gerrans’ ride into the history books in the wee hours of the morning.
My kingdom for anyone who can describe what is going through Cadel Evans's mind right now as the Tour enters the big mountains.
The moment has finally arrived! Over the course of the next three days it is likely the victor in the 2008 Tour de France will emerge from among the towering peaks of the French / Italian Alps.
The number of Australian supporters following the Tour de France in 2008 has swelled in numbers more than any other year.
Mark down another stage win to Mark Cavendish. What a champion, the first Englishmen to claim four stage wins ever in the Tour de France and he’s only twenty-four.
The landscape of the Tour de France is changing with every passing year. It’s not surprising Australians are the flavour of the month over here with the success of Cadel Evans. But the knock-on effects are endless.
Ten stages down and we’ve almost thumbed our way through half of the Tour de France race book for 2008. It’s all happened so fast I can hardly remember the start in wet and windy Brittany – especially given the high drama of the past two days as Cadel Evans’ stocks plummeted then shot back up to record levels.
Put yourself in the position of two Australians whose mission it is to derail Cadel Evans. Two Aussies who have spent more than half their adult lives carving out careers on cycling's pro-circuit in Europe and succeeded at every level.
Is it a coincidence that there are 300,000 pilgrims in Sydney to see the Pope and an Australian takes the yellow jersey within cooee of that other pilgrim hotspot, Lourdes? Perhaps.
Could Cadel Evans really be out of the Tour de France? It's as if I had woken up in a cold sweat when the news was delivered of Cadel's prognosis after his dramatic crash on the road in Stage 9.
The French appear to have a fascination for everything Australian at the moment. Fans love Cadel while France television are interested in us. Us? I'm talking about the SBS crew in the media compound.
The Tour de France is one of the world's greatest sporting events but even I didn't know how good it was until I followed Australian star Stuart O'Grady during his 30km time trial in Stage 4.
The battle for the green jersey doesn't seem to be playing out the way it has in previous years. Remember the days when the Tour launched itself by way of a string of bunch sprints in the opening week of racing?
The Tour de France is still days away from reaching the Pyrenees but I’m sensing we’re seeing a new-look Cadel Evans.
Three stages in – Brest–Plumelec, Auray–St Brieuc, St Malo–Nantes – and truth be told I have yet to be emboldened/dumb/masochistic enough to sit through all of it. There's something rather underwhelming about the early stages of a race, like the early rounds of the US Masters.