 Cadel Evans will wear yellow when the Tour lines up for Stage 11
Tuesday, 15 July 2008 Cadel Evans has become only the fifth Australian to wear the leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France. The 30 year old shed a tear as he stepped onto the podium after an epic tenth stage of the race that saw the riders cover 156km from Pau, at the foot of the Pyrenees to the mountain top finish at Hautacam.
Along the way the infamous climb up the Col du Tourmalet claimed several of the favourites as the CSC team set a driving pace in a bid to crack the contenders. However Evans avoided panic and made sure he did what he needed to do to stay in contention. A final burst in the closing kilometre saw him take a one second lead in the general classification as the race heads into the first of two rest days.
It was a gutsy effort from the Northern Territory born former World Cup Mountain Bike Champion who only 24 hours before suffered grazes and bruising in a crash during stage nine. Today, sporting several bandages, he put yesterday behind him and with grim determination moved a step closer achieving his dream of winning the Tour de France.
The first Australian to ever lead the Tour, Phil Anderson, was at the summit to witness Evans's feat, 27 years after he achieved the honour.
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Nine Australians are racing in this year's Tour de France.
Team Columbia
Silence Lotto
- Cadel Evans
- Robbie McEwen
Team CSC
Milram
Barloworld
Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O
Credit Agricole
- Simon Gerrans
- Mark Renshaw
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