Well, what can I say? The first Australian to ever win the Tour de France. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s worth the wait! Twice second in ‘07 and ‘08, followed by crashes and injuries in ‘09 and ‘10, it sometimes seemed that Cadel would never reach the top step. His World Championship win in ‘09 gave him a confidence boost, and the move to BMC, who built a team for the Tour solely focused on the GC, resulted in a calm & relaxed Cadel who was free to focus on his riding. The results speak for themselves.

This year’s Tour has been the best that I can remember. Right from the start we’ve had a variety of riders animating the race, and, more importantly, it’s been who has been animating the race that’s been significant. Thor Hushovd, Philippe Gilbert & Jeremy Roy are widely regarded as clean riders, as are Cadel and Thomas Voeckler. To see them all up the front, attacking and making it stick, is a big clue that cycling is getting its act together and the efforts to fight doping are working.

I’m sure there are still dopers out there, but they’re definitely doping less. The days of a Mr. 60% like Pantani or Riis are long gone, as are the Armstrong years where a single team controlled the race from start to finish. The introduction of the bio-passport to the peloton in 2008 was the turning point. For the first time, all riders were subject to longitudinal testing, not just the French and, as more data has been gathered, it has been possible to construct individual, year-round profiles for each rider, greatly minimising the opportunities for any doping, and completely removing the possibility of taking large amounts of drugs.

The climb times and power to weight ratios on the decisive climbs back this view up, with times up to 3 minutes slower on crucial climbs than the Armstrong era. This, coupled with the resurgence of French teams, plus the strength of teams with a strong anti-doping stance like Garmin-Cervelo, Sky and HTC, point to a brighter future for the sport. I’m pretty confident that we’ve just witnessed the cleanest Tour in at least 20 years. Long may it continue.

Anyway, after three weeks staying up until 1 or 2am watching the race, it’s time for me to get back on the bike and cycle myself instead of watching others do so!