It’s the hope that gets you. In an ordinary year, two remarkable stage wins at the Tour de France would be considered a successful campaign from the peloton’s Australian contingent. But given the buzz that surrounded general classification prospects, particularly after Jai Hindley became the first Australian in history to win the Giro d’Italia in May, the absence of an Australian in the top 20 as the Tour concluded on Sunday left lingering disappointment.
The buzz had focused on Ben O’Connor and Jack Haig, who both arrived in Copenhagen for the grand depart anointed as race leaders for their respective teams. O’Connor finished fourth at last year’s Tour after a stunning solo stage win catapulted him up the general classification standings; Haig impressed last year and looked in fine form during early season racing.
But it was not to be. Three-week grand-tour racing is a fickle beast; one misstep can end a campaign. And so it proved for both Australian climbers. Haig was the first to go, injuring himself during a crash on stage five and being forced to abandon. O’Connor, meanwhile, dropped time from the first stage, through a mix of misfortune and misadventure. He ultimately withdrew on stage nine, after a tear in his glute muscle – which he had battled through – became too much to bear. “It’s like having a knife in your arse, more or less,” he said. “So it’s pretty brutal.” For both, the 2022 Tour will be remembered as a case of what might have been.
The Tour also proved disappointing for Australian sprint star Caleb Ewan. After leaving the Giro empty-handed – a race he described as the “Giro from hell” – the Lotto–Soudal fast-man was expecting big things in France. But nothing went right, as a number of crashes and a series of successful breakaways deprived Ewan of sprint opportunities (one cycling website described him as the “most unlucky sprinter” at the Tour). His eighth-placed finish on the final stage, the iconic sprint on the Champs-Élysées, underscored his difficulties – he had won the same stage three years ago.
But amid these hardships, two Australians shone. Veteran Simon Clarke battled through a chaotic day in northern France, featuring the infamous Hell of the North cobblestoned pavé, to win the stage in a photo finish. It was a career highlight for the 36-year-old and a fitting reward for a two-decade long stint racing in Europe. Covid-19 subsequently ended Clarke’s Tour, but nothing would diminish his stage-five achievement (all the more impressive given he almost retired at the end of last year, having been left without a team when Qhubeka-NextHash collapsed).
A solo win on stage 14 was also particularly sweet for Michael Matthews, who had last won a Tour stage in 2017, when he claimed the green jersey. The Canberran had looked in good form, but was twice pipped to stage glory – finishing second on stages six and eight. Matthews went again a week later, joining a breakaway during a sweltering stage to Mende and claiming a captivating victory. The win was Matthews’s first since last March, an unusual drought for an otherwise-prolific rider.
Attention now turns to the remainder of the road calendar – most immediately the Tour de France Femmes, which began on Sunday and features a strong contingent of Australian riders. The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will follow, including a road race and time trial. Ewan will be hoping to put his Tour disappointment behind him on the road course, which looks to favour the sprinters, while Grace Brown will lead the Australians in the women’s race. Two-time world time trial champion Rohan Dennis will be fresh after missing out on the Tour and is a strong medal prospect in the race against the clock.
The world’s best male cyclists – or, at least, those still standing after a gruelling year of racing and widespread Covid-19 spread in the peloton – will then head to Spain. After the pressure of the Giro and the hype around the Tour, the Vuelta a España can be a more cerebral, strategic affair – the thinking man’s tour. It’s also the last major opportunity to riders to prove themselves ahead of contract negotiations and end-of-season musical chairs.
Provided he has recovered from injury, O’Connor will be among the red jersey contenders in Spain. Haig, health permitting, will also likely return to Spain, looking to repeat his performance in 2021, when he became the first Australian to finish on the podium at the race. With Giro champion Hindley also anticipated to contest the Vuelta, there could be three Australians battling it out in the overall standings.
The 2022 edition of the Vuelta will wrap up on 11 September, giving riders just a week to make their way to Australia for the UCI Road World Championships. While the course has a few climbs, it will ultimately favour sprinters or puncheurs depending on how the race plays out. For the men, Ewan and Matthews are most likely to be flying the Australian flag at the pointy end of the race, while the women’s team is still taking shape.
It has been 12 years since Australia last hosted the road world championships. Last time, in Geelong, Australia collected three medals – Matthews won the U23 road race, Luke Durbridge collected silver in the U23 time trial and Allan Davis earned bronze in the road race.
Since that junior title, Matthews has won stages at all three grand tours and twice finished on the world championship podium – silver in 2015 and bronze in 2017. At the Tour, the 31-year-old showed that on his day, he can still beat anyone. A world championship triumph for Matthews would be a fitting end to a tremendous season for Australian cycling and consign the lingering disappointment of the 2022 Tour to history.
