AUSSIE HEROES

Though consistent international success only really started in the 1970s or 1980s for Australia, their participation in international road cycling goes almost back to the beginning of the sport

HUBERT OPPERMAN Career: 1921-1939

Opperman was the original Aussie pioneer to Europe, travelling to race the Tour de France for the first time in 1928 and again in 1931. He won Paris- BrestParis and was famous for setting cycling endurance distance records.

ROBBIE MCEWEN Career: 1996- 2012

The best road sprinter Australia has ever produced, McEwen won 12 Tour stages and 12 Giro stages, along with three green jerseys in France. Second in the world road race championships in 2002, he took 116 professional victories in all.

PHIL ANDERSON Career: 1980-1994

The first Australian to wear the yellow jersey and to finish in the top 10 of the Tour de France. Anderson was an allrounder who came fifth in the Tour and won the Dauphiné and Suisse, along with Amstel Gold and Paris-Tours.

CADEL EVANS Career: 2001- 2015

The former mountain biker reached the pinnacle when he finally won the Tour de France in 2011 after two second places. Evans also won the world road race championships, Flèche, Romandie and Tirreno, and won the UCI ProTour in 2007.

KATHY WATT Career: 1990-2008

Watt was the Olympic road race champion in 1992 in Barcelona and also a former Australian road race champion. She achieved two podium places in the Giro Rosa, in 1990 and 1994, and was a medallist at the world TT champs.

SIMON GERRANS Career: 2005-2018

Gerrans is Australia’s most successful one- day racer, with victories in MilanSan Remo and Liège- Bastogne- Liège. He also won both Canadian WorldTour races and the GP Ouest- France, plus four GC titles at the Tour Down Under.