Australia's future in the Tour de France lies somewhere in between its stunning results in the race, big money and the sport's ongoing image problem.

Yet again, Australia enjoyed its best Tour - now an ongoing observation for much of the last decade.

It again raises speculation about when - no longer "if" - an Australian will create history by finishing in the top three overall.

It also focuses attention on the tantalising prospect of an Australian-based ProTour team.

The new SouthAustralia.com-AIS team, a development squad based on the national under-23 program, has enjoyed great success this year in Europe and the United States.

But creating a ProTour team would mean moving to an entirely new level, with multi-million dollar backing each year.

The lowest annual budget for this year's Tour de France teams was understood to be 3.5 million euros ($A5.92 million).

To put that in perspective, the highest annual sponsorship among the Australian football codes would be around $A6 million.

While the ballooning numbers of cyclists along Melbourne's Beach Road on any Saturday or Sunday morning emphasise the sport's growing appeal, that is yet to extend to serious corporate backing.

SouthAustralia.com manager and Cycling Australia high performance director Shayne Bannan has no doubt Australia will eventually boast a ProTour team.

For many reasons, Australian cycling has so far been unable to attract that sort of sponsorship.

The latest doping scandal that erupted on the eve of this year's Tour would do nothing to help.

While Australian cycling has the stars, an outstanding national program and booming appeal, the sport globally keeps taking three steps forward, then two and a half back.

Floyd Landis is a great Tour champion, but rivals Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso were suspended on the eve of the race thanks to the Operation Puerto investigation in Spain.

SouthAustralia.com-AIS shows it is possible for Australian cycling to attract significant backing, with the South Australian government using the team to promote tourism in the state.

But for the time being, bigger-budget European teams such as Davitamon-Lotto and CSC will have "little Australias", where riders and managers from this country come together on their rosters.

Davitamon-Lotto boasts Cadel Evans and Robbie McEwen among several Australian riders, while former Tour finisher Allan Peiper is in management.

This year, Evans equalled Phil Anderson's two fifth placings in the 1980s as the best Australian Tour finishes.

Meanwhile, McEwen won his third green jersey as well as three stages.

That gives McEwen 11 stage wins and means Australians have won the green jersey in four of the last five Tours.

CSC's Stuart O'Grady overcame a cracked vertebra, suffered when he crashed early in the Tour, and then illness to finish.

It confirmed O'Grady's reputation as one of the toughest riders in professional cycling.

One of the highlights in a difficult Tour for German team T-Mobile was the 10th placing by Mick Rogers.

That also meant Australia had two riders in the top 10 for the first time in the event's history.

Simon Gerrans overcame his early-season shoulder injuries, then illness and a knee injury late in the race, to finish his second Tour.

By themselves, they are all great results.

Of course, it is highly unlikely all these riders would end up on the one team.

But it highlights the rich vein of Australian talent scattered throughout the European peloton.

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