McEwen delighted as heir Ewan wins in Tour

Robbie McEwen knew exactly what it meant for Caleb Ewan as he broke his Tour de France duck.

The Australian cycling great, who won 12 Tour stages and three green jerseys, was commentating for SBS as Ewan finally broke through on stage 11 at Toulouse.

"As he got confirmation (of the win), it wasn't a monkey that fell off his back, it was a family of gorillas," McEwen said.

It is 20 years since McEwen won his first Tour stage, at the famed last day on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Moments after the triumph McEwen was shaking a fist in glee and fury at a TV camera, knowing he had silenced the critics at the end of his third Tour.

Two decades later McEwen was shaking his fists again, this time with elation as he sat alongside fellow commentator Matt Keenan.

A video on the SBS website shows the excitement on their faces as they call Ewan's win.

"He's got it ... this is all on fight and all on heart," McEwen said.

"The difference? Wanting it. So much desire."

Ewan is seen as McEwen's heir in Australian cycling, the next great road sprinter from this country.

While Michael Matthews has won two Tour stages and also claimed the green jersey two years ago, he is more of an all-rounder.

Ewan, like McEwen, is all pure sprinting speed.

And like McEwen, the 24-year-old has had his challenges.

A year ago, Australian team Mitchelton-Scott controversially left him off their Tour roster only days out from the race.

No-one will say so, but speculation about his upcoming transfer to Belgian team Lotto-Soudal undoubtedly influenced that dramatic call.

Moving to the powerful Lotto-Soudal team only compounded the pressure on Ewan, who succeeded German great Andre Greipel as their top sprinter.

Ewan came into the Tour boasting strong form, having won two stages of the Giro d'Italia.

But after four top-three placings, Ewan was still searching for that elusive debut win when a teammate crashed in front of him with 10km left in stage 11.

"For a moment, it was like he dropped his bundle - he didn't go immediately," McEwen said of that moment.

"He fought so hard to come back from a lost position - brilliant.

"He's been battling so hard, he's been so consistent.

"There won't be anyone in the peloton who's not happy for him and this victory - they've seen him battle so hard and come so close."

There were echoes of stage one at Canterbury in 2007, when McEwen somehow rallied from a crash with 20km left to pull off arguably his greatest Tour win.