As this week progressed, the Australian cycling commentariat has been anticipating that by tomorrow night’s Tour de France penultimate 20th stage, the individual time trial, also known as “the race of truth”, Cadel Evans — via the unmissable SBS live coverage — would be delivering us an “America’s Cup moment”.

Hence, emanating from his adopted home town of Geelong and all over the continent and countless lounge rooms, pubs and clubs, wherever cycling fans and newly won converts gather to watch events unfold in the world’s toughest bike race for the final three nights, who won’t “yell for Cadel”?

Today’s Geelong Advertiser

Overnight, BMC Racing’s Evans, as nominal race favourite heading into the monumentally torturous 200.5-kilometre 18th alpine mountain stage, knew he needed to counter any attempt at a breakaway by his handful of rivals or all could be lost.

Today, on the face of it, his refusal to respond to Leopard Trek’s Andy Schleck’s daring break 60 kilometres from the finish to the summit of the Galibier (the highest tour finish in its history), delivered the perfect ambush as Evans slipped from second to fourth overall in the general classification.

Andy Schleck, the younger brother of Frank, came within 15 seconds of overtaking constantly surprising French race leader, Eurocar’s Thomas Voeckler. Frank is now third, just four seconds ahead of Evans who stands 1 minute 8 seconds behind Voeckler, yet Evans also managed to claw six seconds off the leader, while Andy gained 2 minutes 15 seconds on Evans to be ahead of him by 57 seconds.

When Evans was given no help by anyone else to chase down Andy, he finally he had no choice but to set out after the break and pretty much do it on his own and did manage to convincingly take more than a minute back from the stage winner towards the end of the gruelling final ascent. That Luxembourg’s Schleck brothers’ Machiavellian double act has sought to assiduously work over Evans in all the mountain stages was entirely predictable.

What was less so, was finally seeing off any threat from a now faltering and forlorn Alberto Contador (Saxobank), who being closer to five minutes down in seventh place can’t win. Evans was heroic in defeat where he boxed clever to limit the damage by not trying to outdo both brothers, so there was no disgrace in his drop to fourth and the gap to Andy is still very manageable.

Tonight it could be Frank’s turn to play the lure on the final assault on the tour’s most famous climb up Alpe-d’Huez to sap Evans, or anyone else, while Andy hangs back and sticks to Evans’ wheel. It’s clear that Voeckler, even if he stays where he is until tomorrow, which seems highly improbable, can’t win as he can’t time trial.

Unless either brother can put upwards of two minutes or more into Evans tonight, as the superior time trialer, Saturday’s 41-kilometre stage really is the race of truth. Unless he is overcooked tonight to keep any deficit down, Evans has a better than 50-50 chance to make that processional ride into Paris on Sunday proudly wearing the famous Maillot Jaune along with a nation’s pride.

It will also catapult him into the absolute top 10 of our greatest ever sporting legends whether man, beast or boat; and he can take that to the bank for the rest of his life.

*Need a Tour de France refresher? Find out how the Tour de France works here.