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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard ruled out the possibility of a national holiday but told Cadel Evans of the impact his victory in the Tour de France would have on his compatriots.
Australians stayed up through the night, some at fancy dress parties, to watch the 34-year-old Evans ride to victory down Paris' Champs-Elysees in Sunday's final stage of cycling's greatest race.
Gillard spoke to Evans by telephone beforehand and told him that all of the country would be behind him as he rode to the finish line to become the first Australian to win the 3,430-kilometer (2,131.2-mile) race.
"We did share a joke about his impact on the economy of our nation," Gillard said. "I suggested that he wasn't doing much good for national productivity because everyone was coming to work bleary-eyed. He suggested that it'd all be all right in the end because people would feel so full of morale that they'd be cantering into work and working harder.
"So I'm not in a position to announce a public holiday for (Monday), but I am in a position to share Cadel's view that ultimately we'll be more enthused about our daily tasks because we're celebrating his victory."
Federal opposition leader Tony Abbott described Evans as Australia's toughest sportsman.
"The Tour is the toughest endurance event in the world," Abbott said. "Cadel has done every Australian incredibly proud."
Evans' mother, Helen Cocks, paced the floor of her farmhouse at Arthurs Creek in rural Victoria state as her son virtually clinched victory in the the penultimate time trial stage on Saturday.
"Watching him ride, he just looked so strong. But I was not even thinking about it (victory) until the finish. I just did not want to go there," she told the Melbourne Age newspaper. "I got so tense. I just wanted to be by myself because it was never a foregone conclusion.
"But all the time that I watched him, during those extraordinary long times in front, you knew that he had a chance. I've been speechless, breathless. But now there is an enormous relief; he has worked so hard for it, and for once he had some luck."
Sydney bank officer Nick Farrell was one of many Australians who stayed up through the night. He was still up early Sunday, after the decisive time trial, to celebrate Evans' achievement with a early morning bike ride with friends.
"I stayed up half the night watching the time trials and couldn't get to sleep afterwards, I was so excited. But I couldn't miss my Sunday ride. Cadel's victory makes it so much sweeter," Farrell told the Sydney Morning Herald. "The man's a legend. A good bloke and a genuine Australian sporting hero."
Residents of Evans' home state of Victoria were urged to wear yellow to work Monday to celebrate the victory.
Premier Ted Baillieu said all Victorians would want to celebrate the achievement of Evans, who lives part of the year in the state's coastal township of Barwon Heads. Baillieu said he was in discussion with Evans' family and management about an appropriate official celebration.
"He's a man that causes a lot of fuss but he doesn't, on a personal basis, make a lot of fuss," Baillieu said. "We want to work with Cadel and his family and his management to do something that he can embrace when he returns to Victoria.
"He's certainly part of the fabric of Victoria and he now always will be. I'm sure Victorians will want to express their support for Cadel Evans, and I invite Victorians tomorrow to all wear a bit of yellow."
The head of the Victorian Institute of Sport, Dave Sanders, said Evans' win would rank as "the greatest individual achievement in Australian sporting history."
"I challenge anybody to put up something against it," he said.
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Australians stayed up through the night, some at fancy dress parties, to watch the 34-year-old Evans ride to victory down Paris' Champs-Elysees in Sunday's final stage of cycling's greatest race.
Gillard spoke to Evans by telephone beforehand and told him that all of the country would be behind him as he rode to the finish line to become the first Australian to win the 3,430-kilometer (2,131.2-mile) race.
"We did share a joke about his impact on the economy of our nation," Gillard said. "I suggested that he wasn't doing much good for national productivity because everyone was coming to work bleary-eyed. He suggested that it'd all be all right in the end because people would feel so full of morale that they'd be cantering into work and working harder.
"So I'm not in a position to announce a public holiday for (Monday), but I am in a position to share Cadel's view that ultimately we'll be more enthused about our daily tasks because we're celebrating his victory."
Federal opposition leader Tony Abbott described Evans as Australia's toughest sportsman.
"The Tour is the toughest endurance event in the world," Abbott said. "Cadel has done every Australian incredibly proud."
Evans' mother, Helen Cocks, paced the floor of her farmhouse at Arthurs Creek in rural Victoria state as her son virtually clinched victory in the the penultimate time trial stage on Saturday.
"Watching him ride, he just looked so strong. But I was not even thinking about it (victory) until the finish. I just did not want to go there," she told the Melbourne Age newspaper. "I got so tense. I just wanted to be by myself because it was never a foregone conclusion.
"But all the time that I watched him, during those extraordinary long times in front, you knew that he had a chance. I've been speechless, breathless. But now there is an enormous relief; he has worked so hard for it, and for once he had some luck."
Sydney bank officer Nick Farrell was one of many Australians who stayed up through the night. He was still up early Sunday, after the decisive time trial, to celebrate Evans' achievement with a early morning bike ride with friends.
"I stayed up half the night watching the time trials and couldn't get to sleep afterwards, I was so excited. But I couldn't miss my Sunday ride. Cadel's victory makes it so much sweeter," Farrell told the Sydney Morning Herald. "The man's a legend. A good bloke and a genuine Australian sporting hero."
Residents of Evans' home state of Victoria were urged to wear yellow to work Monday to celebrate the victory.
Premier Ted Baillieu said all Victorians would want to celebrate the achievement of Evans, who lives part of the year in the state's coastal township of Barwon Heads. Baillieu said he was in discussion with Evans' family and management about an appropriate official celebration.
"He's a man that causes a lot of fuss but he doesn't, on a personal basis, make a lot of fuss," Baillieu said. "We want to work with Cadel and his family and his management to do something that he can embrace when he returns to Victoria.
"He's certainly part of the fabric of Victoria and he now always will be. I'm sure Victorians will want to express their support for Cadel Evans, and I invite Victorians tomorrow to all wear a bit of yellow."
The head of the Victorian Institute of Sport, Dave Sanders, said Evans' win would rank as "the greatest individual achievement in Australian sporting history."
"I challenge anybody to put up something against it," he said.
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