Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pride and joy that I rise today to speak on this motion to honour and celebrate Cadel Evans, world champion mountain biker, world champion road racer and world champion Tour de France winner.

I got to know about the Tour de France and the intricacies of it from my uncle—my late mother's brother Paddy O'Brien—on family holidays to Magnetic Island. One of the key highlights used to be that, down on the beach the next morning, my uncle described the race and the trials and tribulations which had taken place throughout the night on SBS's coverage. With the way he told of the intricacies of the race, the teamwork that was required and the individual skill and determination that were needed, I grew a fascination for the Tour de France and I started to watch it myself. I have got to say that this year it was fantastic to, once again, be able to go on a family holiday to Magnetic Island—and my Uncle Paddy was there—at the start of the Tour de France, the first three or four days, and talk to him about it. I remember saying to him, 'It's Cadel versus the Schleck brothers this time. Can he do it?' He was confident that, with the right amount of luck, Cadel could do it—and it was fantastic to see him do it.

I was back at home in the electorate when stage 19 took place. I had been out that night and was lucky enough to get home and to be able to sit down and watch stage 19. I must confess that my heart sank when Cadel hit mechanical trouble. I thought, 'Oh, no, not again.' But Cadel was going to have none of it and, in the true Australian way, dug deep—he dug into his inner self as I do not think anyone else could have—and was able to ride back into the Tour de France in that fateful stage 19. That was important, but there was also the time trial. He had to make up time in the time trial and he had faced a similar situation in 2008. He did not have quite as much time to make up this year, but in 2008 he had to try to catch Carlo Sastre and he was not able to. I could not help thinking, as he lined up for the time trial this year, about how he was dealing with the demons from 2008—whether he was thinking, 'I mightn't be able to do it, again; I might fall just seconds short; it's possible Andy Schleck might ride the time trial of his life and I might just not get there.' But he rode the time trial of his life and put his place in the Tour de France beyond doubt. It reminded me of other memorable sporting achievements I have seen. I remember Pat Cash winning Wimbledon and having that same sense of euphoria, being up late at night and seeing an Australian sportsman achieve such a feat—and what Cadel Evans achieved was great.

It is an absolute pleasure and honour to speak on this motion. I congratulate Cadel Evans, I congratulate his coach and I congratulate his team, because if there is one thing my uncle taught me it is that you cannot win the Tour de France unless you have good team. This year, I think more than any other, Cadel had a team which meant that victory was his. So to Cadel, his team, his coaches—including his late coach, whom Cadel rightly recognised for the incredible contribution he made to Cadel's career—I say: I commend you all, I congratulate you all and I hope I am up at Magnetic Island again next year to witness the start of the race and talk about it with my uncle and, hopefully, see Cadel win back-to-back.

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