Cadel’s drive for success
THE 2011 Tour de France is at a critical juncture in the Italian town of Pinerolo when Gerry Ryan approaches Cadel Evans.
It’s Stage 18 and like the rest of Australia, the prominent businessman and cycling enthusiast has felt every Evans pedal stroke.
“I was checking in with him every day and he was like ‘Oh, I’m doing OK’ and the next day it was ‘I’m not doing so well’,” Ryan said.
“So I said: ‘Look, I know you love Cadillacs. I’ve ordered a yellow Cadillac for you because you’re going to win the Tour’.”
Evans recalled: “I looked at Gerry and said: ‘Now I’m motivated!’
“I’m a bit of car geek. I don’t know how many people know that. I’d never buy myself a Cadillac and if I did, I wouldn’t buy a yellow one. But to have one with this significance behind it, I’m so proud to drive it.”
Seven years later, two of the most influential people in Australian sport are sitting side-by-side in the same bright yellow, 1958 Cadillac Coupe — numberplates ‘CADTDF’.
It rumbles along the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race course that exists because Evans did win the 2011 Tour after a heroic, against-the-odds performance on that Stage 18.
For Evans — Australia’s greatest cyclist — and Ryan — Australian cycling’s uber-generous white knight — this is the machine that will forever unite them. But as of this weekend, it won’t be the only thing to link the two men who first met 23 years ago.
The fourth edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race will see the introduction of the Gerry Ryan Award to be given to the best young male and female rider under 25.
“Gerry has contributed so much in so many ways to cycling and sport in general,” Evans said. “I wanted him to be recognised, not just in a oneoff manner, but in a way that will last for years to come.
“I’d like to think our race is an opportunity early in the season for young riders who don’t get to lead their teams in the established European classics. The next generation is a large part of Gerry’s involvement in cycling so to link those two is great.”
Ryan, so often the donator, was humbled to be the recipient, with an award named in his honour. “All I’ve ever wanted to try and do, whether in business or sport, is to make a difference,” he said. For Ryan, who founded Australia’s first World Tour team ORICA-GreenEDGE in 2011 and has made untold financial contributions to the sport, it’s a gesture that validates his passion.
The curtain will be opened on the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race with the Race Melbourne criterium at Albert Park tomorrow afternoon before the women’s road race (Saturday) and men’s road race (Sunday) hit Geelong.