It’s been hard not to get caught up in the events surrounding the Tour de France over the past few weeks.

Like a lot of my team-mates, and Australians in general, I’ve followed the Tour pretty closely and was just rapt to see Cadel Evans ride down the Champs Elysees in that yellow jersey early on Monday morning.

Seriously, what an effort.

I still remember my first pre-season with the Club when Vossy, Chris Scott and Aker went on a charity bike ride which lasted an entire week and was more than 700km long. It was a phenomenal effort.

But it sounds like a ride to the shops when you compare it to the Tour de France which has 21 stages and covers a distance of around 3,500km. What’s even more amazing is that some of those stages are on long and steep inclines through the mountains.

All the boys spent plenty of time on the bikes during the pre-season and those were some of the hardest sessions in memory.

We would do repeat sprints, with shorts breaks in-between, for what seemed like forever.

It gives you a real appreciation for just how fit these cyclists are.

The physical and mental toughness needed to overcome those conditions are extreme and I think every person will take inspiration from what Cadel was able to achieve.