Mathew Hayman reflects on 22-year cycling career ahead of final ride in Tour Down Under

Mathew Hayman was given no chance of taking part, let alone winning the Paris-Roubaix classic in his 15th attempt. What he did next was even more remarkable.

Mathew Hayman celebrates after winning the Paris-Roubaix classic.

WHEN Mathew Hayman lived his dream by winning Paris-Roubaix, one of the first things he did was apologise to the man he beat, Tom Boonen.

Even in the euphoric aftermath of his greatest triumph, the Aussie veteran, who had been as unlucky as anyone in the prestigious 257.5km cobbled classic, was thinking of others.

Herein lies the career of Hayman — resilient, determined and, above all, selfless.

Feted with a celebration luncheon in Melbourne on Wednesday, Hayman, 40, will next month ride his last ever race at Adelaide’s Tour Down Under.

He bows out with a career spent largely in the service of others, with the 2016 Paris-Roubaix title the glorious fairytale chapter.

Two years ago Boonen was the Belgian superstar gunning for a record fifth Roubaix crown in front of thousands of fans.

Hayman was the unfancied Aussie who’d broken his wrist six weeks earlier and done what he could to prepare on the stationary bike in the shed.

He was given no chance of taking part, let alone winning for Mitchelton-Scott in his 15th attempt.

So moments after saluting inside the Roubaix velodrome, he felt guilt.

“I live in Belgium and I didn’t want my house burnt down,” Hayman joked this week.

“I knew what it was for (Boonen) that day to go on and be the all-time record holder and I had been following it in the Belgian press. I was also still in a bit of shock at what I’d just done.”

Australia’s Mathew Hayman celebrates as he crosses the finish line ahead of Belgium’s Tom Boonen.

Hayman grew up outside Goulburn in country New South Wales.

When the family moved to Canberra not long after, a 12-year-old Hayman rode his first race — or at least intended to.

“I didn’t get out of the car,” he said.

“We parked and I saw this other kid riding up and down doing some sprints and I got nervous and thought, ‘I can’t race today’.

“In hindsight it was probably good because that little kid went on to be a three-time world time-trial champion and a two-time stage at the Giro d’Italia and also a stage winner at the Tour de France.

“It was Michael Rogers.”

In an AFL era when draftees regularly complain of homesickness, Hayman moved to Holland as a teenager without knowing the language and without family and friends.

There was no Skype, no FaceTime and no email. Just handwritten letters and snail mail.

“I struggled. I was all right at races because that’s why I wanted to be there, but it was a lot of downtime for an 18-year-old,” he said.

“You had to be self-motivated to do the training and I was in student accommodation in the back of nowhere.”

But the resilience that shone on the cobbled roads of northern France in 2016 was strong back then, too.

On his journey from the Rabobank development team to its main team, to Team Sky and finally, Mitchelton-Scott, there’s been a love of representing Australia.

Starting with the 1996 junior world championships and ending at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Hayman has been pulling on the green and gold for 22 years.

“It’s something I’ve always taken a lot of pride in. To pull on an Australian jersey has never got old,” Hayman said.

He’s ridden the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana and every classic and monument there is.

“This was what I always wanted and what I always dreamed of,” Hayman said.

“If I didn’t win Paris-Roubaix I would have done it all over again. The results don’t really matter, it’s been about the process.

“It’s given me everything, this sport. My wife, my life, my children.

“It’s been a wonderful ride.”