Melbourne's 'Cadelebration'

What a day for Melbourne cycling fans!  The city, closed to traffic, had the deficit more than made up by the pedestrian crowd.  As Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu said, more people turned out for today's 'Cadelebration' than for any other event ever held in the city's Federation Square.

And what a home-coming it must have been for Cadel.  On arriving in Australia yesterday, the 34-year-old commented that in concentrating on each day's racing, he sometimes forgets about the 20 million fans cheering him on at home.  The message has surely sunk in today, after seeing the crowds gathered in the CBD and hearing how much noise several thousand excited Aussies can make!

The parade started at the bottom of St. Kilda Rd, where Cadel and 20 young Victorian riders in BMC-red 'Team Cadel' shirts began their 15-minute ride up to Flinder's St and the amassed crowd at Fed Square.  Speculation soon began on how long it would actually take Cadel to 'ride' up the road, given 'ride' in this context meant 'shake the hands of every person on the side of the road whilst I scoot along with one foot on the ground'.  Team Cadel was struggling to go sufficiently slowly!

Cadel finally made it up to Fed Square, and it was easy to tell where the man in yellow was simply by following the cheers of the crowd.  Making his way under the 'Australia Congratulates Cadel' banner, he stepped up onto the yellow-bedecked stage for an exhaustive cheer from the crowd.

After the Welcome to Country and the singing of the national anthem, Cadel sat down briefly for an on-stage interview with sport journalist Gerard Whateley, discussing life after becoming the first Australian in history to win the Tour de France.  Cadel's sense of humour certainly won the crowd over, as well the quiet way in which he seemed to take it all in.  He left the stage after being presented with a trophy by Ted Baillieu, following which most of the crowd dissipated, meaning I was able to get to the front and saw:

Yes, Gabriel Gate was there as well!  He was more than happy to talk to fans along the barricade (those who recognised him, that is), and naturally I had to get a photo.

After Cadel emerged from the rest tent sidestage he strolled down the Yarra River with his wife Chiara Passerini and mother Helen Cocks, accompanied by about 20 police and security guards, shaking hands with fans along the way and posing for a few photos.  They disappeared into a nearby building for a press conference, which was my cue to take a lunch break beside the Yarra.  While we were waiting, they brought up that cars that will ferry Cadel around the city...

Even the cars around here are yellow!  I mean...Cadellow.

It was a while before the press conference finished and Helen and Chiara appeared, followed by Cadel.  Though they didn't stop to greet fans before they hopped in the cars and headed off, Chiara was happily waving her kangaroo at the crowd.

But there was still more fun left in my day.  On my way back to Fed Square from the river, I came across a familiar face and had to stop and ask for a photo.  Five minutes later I walked past the same place and found another of Australia's top cycling journalists having a chat to a friend!  So here's me with SBS journos Scott Sunderland and Dave McKenzie.

What a great day overall!  It's hard to know whether to be sad that Cadel Evans can't stop by his home country without needing a police escort, or gratified that the whole nation is both supporting an Aussie sporting legend and finally taking a national interest in a predominantly European sport.  With any luck the furore will die down soon enough and Cadel can go back to being his modest old champion-rider self, along with his girls Chiara and Molly.  Either way, I will be standing at the end of the Champs-Elysees in July next year with an Australian flag and a safety pin ready to hand to Cadel before he ascends the top step of the podium for the second time.  Yell for Cadel!