Cadel Evans (BMC) in yellow in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe.(Image credit: AFP)
Congratulations shared among Mark Cavendish and his HTC Highroad teammates(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) protected by his teammates(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) holds aloft his bike(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Team BMC(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Time to pay attention to the fans(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
A victorious Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The jersey wearers congratulate each other.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
It was an emotional victory for Cadel Evans (BMC) (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad) wins(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Frank Schleck with his child(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The jersey wearers ready for one last stage.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) races to Paris(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) gave Australia a big win.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) is almost there.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) congratulates Cadel Evans (BMC).(Image credit: Sirotti)
Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek), second for the third time in as many years, was sporting in defeat to Cadel Evans (BMC).(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) took yellow on the penultimate day.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) wins the Tour de France.(Image credit: Sirotti)
BMC kept Cadel Evans out of trouble on the final day.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) atop the podium.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Pierre Rolland (Europcar) is best young rider.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) finally got his hands on the green jersey.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Three for three. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) in Paris.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) wins on the Champs-Elysees in green.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) was a dominant sprint winner.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) in polka dots in Paris.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans was well-marhsalled by his BMC team.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) on the Champs-Elysees.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard) is not used to riding into Paris without the yellow jersey.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) is lauded by the Schleck brothers.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) draped in the Australian flag.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) celebrates on the podium in Paris.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) celebrates with his team.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans and his BMC team after the stage.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans is feted by his BMC team.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans is led by his BMC team on the Champs-Elysees.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) is Australia's first Tour de France winner.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) was second for the third successive year.(Image credit: Sirotti)
A disappointed Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) on the podium.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Frank Schleck (Leopard Trek) finished third in Paris.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) on the final stage of the 2011 Tour de France.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) and Cadel Evans (BMC) share the spoils in Paris.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) beat Andy and Frank Schleck to win the Tour de France.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) ensconced in the peloton.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Sergio Paulinho (RadioShack) in the day's main break.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) with .Andy and Frank Schleck (Leopard Trek)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Garmin-Cervelo won the team prize.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) in Paris.(Image credit: Sirotti)
BMC and Cadel Evans at the head of the peloton.(Image credit: Sirotti)
The peloton thunders towards the Arc de Triomphe.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) rides on the Champs-Elysees as Tour champion.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) with Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) on his wheel.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Pierre Rolland (Europcar) on the Champs-Elysees.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) wins the king of the mountains.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) gets a hug from his toughest competition.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
A victorious Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) won his first Tour after many years of trying(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) on the podium in Paris(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad) wins the stage(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) in a Schleck sandwich(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) is the first Australian to win the Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) in yellow(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad) gets to keep the green jersey(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad) pays tribute to his team(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) after winning his first Tour de France(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The new points format worked out well for green jersey Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Runner-up Andy Schleck congratulates Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) is mobbed by happy teammates(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad) blazed to his third win on the Champs-Élysées (Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans (BMC) rides in with teammates(Image credit: AFP)
Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad) celebrates victory on the Champs-Élysées (Image credit: AFP)
Mark Cavendish (HTC Highroad) wins on the Champs-Élysées (Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans (BMC) surrounded by teammates(Image credit: AFP)
Hugs for Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC) (Image credit: AFP)
The peloton(Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans (BMC) sits in the peloton(Image credit: AFP)
The peloton on the Champs-Élysées (Image credit: AFP)
Riders in the final kilometers of the Tour de France(Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans (BMC)(Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans (BMC) in yellow on the final day(Image credit: AFP)
Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) secured the green jersey.(Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans (BMC) toasts Tour de France victory on the road to Paris.(Image credit: AFP)
Cadel Evans (BMC) sealed Tour de France victory on Sunday after enjoying an untroubled final day on the road to Paris, while Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) dominated proceedings in the finishing sprint on the Champs-Élysées to secure the green jersey.
For the third time in as many attempts, Cavendish took a comfortable win on the famous boulevard, and for the third consecutive year, Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) stood on the second step of the podium in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe. Familiar as those scenes were, however, the real story of the day was a rather more novel one, as Evans became the first rider from the Southern Hemisphere to win the Tour de France.
On crossing the finish line, Evans was struggling to come to terms with the magnitude of his achievement and admitted that it was difficult to estimate the impact his win would have in Australia.
“I haven’t had time to consider that aspect, to be honest,” Evans said. “It’s been a long, long process and it will take a long time to realise what it means.”
Evans finished 1:34 clear of Andy Schleck and 2:30 ahead of his older brother Fränk to finally win the Tour after years of heartache, and he was keen to pay tribute to the support of his family and his BMC squad.
“A few people always believed in me and they’re the people that matter the most. We did it,” Evans smiled. “It’s been a real pleasure these past three weeks.”
In spite of becoming the first siblings to finish on the Tour podium, there was palpable disappointment for the Schleck brothers at falling short of bringing the yellow jersey back to Luxembourg for the first time since Charly Gaul’s triumph in 1958.
The stage winner Mark Cavendish was understandably in rather more ebullient mood after his fifth stage win of this Tour, and his twentieth in total, a remarkable figure for a rider who only turned 26 in May. In seeing off the challenge of Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) and André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto), not only did the Manxman underline his status as the pre-eminent sprinter of his generation, he also secured the first green jersey of his career.
Cavendish explained that the headwind that greeted the riders coming off the Place de la Concorde meant that he started his sprint later than in previous years.
“I left it until 170 metres to go today, I knew it was going to be tough,” Cavendish said. “I’m so, so happy and so proud of the guys. It’s a great way to finish the Tour.
“I’ve been trying to get this [the green jersey] for the past few years and finally I’ve done it.”
