Australia's got talent

22 July 2012 | 9:00 - By Kate Bates

On the eve of the last stage of the 2012 Tour de France, it looks to be the least successful edition for the Australians in a few years. Orica-GreenEDGE has come in firing but have had near miss after near miss. Cadel isn’t on the same form as last year, and with one stage left we are left waiting desperately to see if Gossy can pull off something special in Paris.

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(Getty Images)

Australians have stood up and taken notice of cycling in the last twelve months. A year ago, the excitement and anticipation on the eve of an Australian riding down the Champs Elysees in the maillot jaune was palpable.

This year, there is a noticeably flatter feeling amongst the Aussie fans and the media.

This being said, if you care to have some long-term vision, I believe Australian cycling, and the fans, have a lot to be positive about.

Australia has a talent pool that is deep, however in staggered stages of development. On one end you have road warriors Cadel Evans and Stuart O’Grady, who between them have ridden 24 editions of the Tour de France.

On the other end you have young guns who aren’t here this year, but who are believed to have the potential to be jersey winners. Cameron Meyer, Luke Durbridge, Rohan Dennis, I could name a few more.

In the middle you have Michael Rogers, Richie Porte and Adam Hansen whose loyalty has led to nine stages wins for their respective team leaders. Should I go on?

Matt Goss, in his second Tour has almost won four stages. Jono Cantwell has run top ten in his first edition, and after numerous falls. Lets not forget he is the leadout man, not the sprinter.

In 2009 we didn’t have an Australian in the top-10 in any classification, this year we will have riders in the top 10 in both the yellow and green jersey classifications.

It is easy to look at Sky and its domination over the last three weeks and wonder how an Aussie team will ever get there. Rest assured, the team is firmly on its way.

Imagine in a few years that Matt Goss is Mark Cavendish, and that Cameron Meyer is Bradley Wiggins. All of sudden it looks rosier, and that is certainly the objective that Shayne Bannan has in mind.

In its first year at Le Tour, Sky had one second-place stage finish with Geraint Thomas. That was its most notable result.

Orica-GreenEDGE has four top-three finishes thus far. In fact, its debut season results have dwarfed those of Sky in terms of WorldTour wins.

The future looks bright, time to pop out and buy some shades.

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Comments (9)

24 Jul 2012 21:10 AEST

David M.

From:

Is erik as smart as his dad. And more to the point, can he time trial and climb. Aussie cycling would surely have a very successful future.

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23 Jul 2012 22:00 AEST

Stephen

From: Nunawading

I'm not sure there is any value in comparing SKY in it's first year to Greenedge. Greenedge has some outstanding youngsters and will be a force in the future but unless Greenedge imports a GC contender their will be no Grand Tour winner in the near future. Also to compare Goss to Cavendish at this point in their careers is silly given there is only 18 months difference in age. Hopefully the Meyer to Wiggins comparison turns out to be not so silly.

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22 Jul 2012 23:50 AEST

RobinHood

From: Warrnambool

Seems to be a gapping omission in the list you offer! What did Michael ROGERS do to be omitted from the list?

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22 Jul 2012 22:20 AEST

Roady Zarzoff

From: Avalon beach

I thought the Aussies did a top job this year. Their girlfriends are getting prettier too, Ohh La lahhh☺☺☺

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22 Jul 2012 18:45 AEST

Mark Doyle

From: Barwon Heads

Australian cyclists have done exceptionally well in Europe in the last 30 odd years. In my opinion the best performers have been Phil Anderson, Robbie McKewan, Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans. Other good performers have been Michael Wilson, Neil Stephens and Brad McGee. Hopefully, blokes such as Richie Porte, Heinrich Hausler, Jack Bobridge, Cameron and Travis Meyer can develop into successful one day classic and the three big tour GC riders.

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22 Jul 2012 16:49 AEST

CadelFan

From:

The real question is can a Durbo Turn into a Spartacus? Look at Fabian!

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22 Jul 2012 15:54 AEST

Ti 531

From: melbourne

Yes agreed Kate we have asome damn good riders coming through. This now has to be a benchmark for future riders. No more AIS and slack off, it has to be AIS then aspire to one fot he other teams for experience then to orica-Green Edge and put it all together. A bright future, lets keep it that way & not end up like the Tennis which is abysmal & has been for a logn time now.

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22 Jul 2012 13:43 AEST

rusty

From:

Can't wait to see Cam Meyer and the young guns, not just Aussies but also Pinot and van Garderen, running rings round Wiggins in a few years. Maybe even next year? But having said that, I really don't think Goss is ever going to be a Cavendish. Wishful thinking.

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22 Jul 2012 13:32 AEST

eriksdad

From: Tasmania

I'm enjoying your articulate and especially insightful writing from the perspective of a sports person and not only as a journalist. And you are right that we need to keep the long view in mind when we respond to or react to the events of one race or even one season. Despite the fact that training moves cyclists closer to machines, I, for one, am thankful that our fallibilities as humans remain, giving us that extra motivation and drive to achieve what can only come through human effort.

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