All New Zealand cyclist Julian Dean can think off now is to take a well-earned break.
Dean finished off his sixth Tour de France in style, snatching his third podium finish in the three-week tour which ended in the heart of Paris this morning (NZT).
British sprint king Mark Cavendish claimed his fifth stage victory on this tour and the 15th of his career in the largely ceremonial 102.5km course from Longjumeau to the Champs-Elysees, with Italian Alessandro Petacchi second.
Dean held off renowned sprinters such as Norwegian Thor Hushovd and Australian Brett Lancaster to finish third in the 20th and final chapter of the tour.
It was a particularly hard tour for Dean who crashed on the second stage but courageously finished second on the fourth stage two days later behind Petacchi, despite still feeling the effects of his fall.
A few days later, he was head butted by Australian rider Mark Renshaw in the sprint finish on the 11th stage and then escaped injury when he was tackled off his bike by an over-zealous policeman who mistook him for an errant spectator as he warmed up for the 16th stage last Wednesday.
“The last two Tour de France’s have certainly been something quite bizarre,” he told RadioLIVE. “I’ve crashed, I’ve been in hospital, I’ve been on the podium, I’ve been tackled by a policeman, I’ve been head-butted by another ride – so it’s been all on the last three weeks; and last year I was shot, so it’s been quite a dramatic event that’s for sure.”
His second podium finish came on stage 18 two days ago, when he was gunned down by Cavendish.
"The next objective is the world (road) championships in Melbourne in October," Dean told Radio Sport today.
"I'll have small break first as I have and time to get into form to hit another peak for the world championships."
Dean's three podium finishes were the best by a New Zealander on the tour - the previous best was one.
It had been satisfying to have got the results after being given the chance by his Garmin team to compete in the stage finishes after his team's main sprinter, American Tyle Farrar had to withdraw from the tour with a broken wrist.
"The door opened me and it was up to me to capitalise on my opportunities - it was nice to get the chance and to get the results I did was really good," said Dean whose primary job had been to lead Farrar out for sprint finishes.
"Overall it has been tough with the bad crash in first week but as race went on, things came around and I finished with some good results in the last week."
Dean said at 35, he didn't know how much longer he would be able to take on a race as gruelling as the 3500km tour.
"It is an enormous achievement to finish the tour and nothing can compare with riding into Paris for the finish.
“I want to come back, obviously I’ve probably had my best Tour de France of the six that I’ve done, so I don’t see any reason why I can’t come back next year even though I am getting a little grey on the side.”
3 News/NZPA