Give this man a medal ... Cadel Evans lays down some hurt on the roads of France (AFP)

Would you think that finishing eighth in your first ever Tour de France would put you in with a shout of being named the year's best Australian road cyclist?

If so you'd be dramatically at odds with the judges who have surprisingly left Cadel Evans off the shortlist for the Australian road cyclist of the year award to be made this Friday.

Over at the Daily Telly , cycling doyen Rupert Guinness makes the point that Evans arguably enjoyed a better year than any of the riders who did make the final cut.

Evans' Tour debut was the best by an Australian in 20 years but it was only the highlight of a season which also saw him place well in a swag of early-season races and beat Jan Ullrich on a mountain stage of the Tour of Germany.

Not bad for a former mountain biker from the NT.

Of the named riders, Robbie McEwen is a valid choice with 23 major stage wins, but his feud with Stuey O'Grady ruined his chances of claiming the Tour's green jersey and marred the build-up to the subsequent worlds race in Madrid.