He also won a stage of Australia's Tour Down Under, again toppling McEwen, to announce himself to the cycling world.

But his greatest thrill was - perhaps surprisingly, but unselfishly - sitting in a car.

"I have never felt such a feeling of achievement than following riders win big races," he offered from his home in Belgium.

"I was in the race car following Simon Yates to his two stage wins in the Tour de France, as well as Daryl Impey and Matteo Trentin.

"Four stage wins in the Tour de France in one year, that was special. Each time we knew from a fair way out we were a good chance to win that particular stage and it was just goosebumps seeing it all unfold in front of us, thinking, 'we are going to win a stage of the TDF, then we're going to win our second stage, then the third and fourth'."

The 41-year-old is Sport Director of the GreenEDGE men's world tour team. It's like an AFL coach, just with more pressure.

"In the race car it's sometimes very stressful," he admitted.

"We have the dangers of huge crowds, mountain descents, high speeds and close driving in the convoy and there's not only cars around us, but riders are coming back from being dropped off, there's crashes, mechanical problems, riders stopping in front due to some problems.

"There's also race radio, rider radio, team staff radio, television iPad's, course navigation systems going and sometimes they all go off at once and the riders are asking for particular information over the radio that may be the difference between winning and losing."

It gives you a headache just reading it, but it won't surprise those who grew up with McPartland in Albury.

He was always mature and sensible.

"You have to have an ability to block certain things out, keeping calm and the riders calm also," he revealed.

"But I see this not as a job, but as a passion."

It's the same passion he had hurtling up and down East Albury's Eastern Hill.

"What really kicked it off was when the Herald Sun Tour passed through town in 1996," he recalled.

"There was a criterium in the rain up and down (Albury's main street) Dean Street and then the next day there was a stage from Swift St out to Hume Weir, Mount Beauty, over Tawonga Gap, Bright and finished up at Mount Buffalo.

"I can still remember that day and how special it was and from then on that was my career ambition as a 16-year-old and three years later I did it.

"I had a great bunch to learn the ropes from with Greg Featonby, Wayne Nichols and Steve Kilpatrick, among many others."

But, sometimes, you need to learn for yourself. Like the time McPartland ventured overseas in 2001.

"I was riding for an amateur team in the Netherlands and was staying on a farm close to the Belgian border, near Antwerp," he revealed.

"We soon realised it wasn't as hyped up as we would have liked. Our accommodation for the first four months was a caravan as the promised apartment wasn't ready (laughs)."

McPartland spent the next six years riding throughout Europe, while he was selected for Australia in the World Road Championships in 2004, with his role to act as a support rider for Olympic gold medallist Stuart O'Grady and fellow team leader Allan Davis.

He never had the chance to ride in the world's two big events, the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.

"I was always in Pro Continental teams, which are division two of the three professional divisions, which meant we relied on wildcard entries," he revealed.

"I missed selection on the Giro d'Italia twice, but made selection for the biggest one-day races instead, the Tour of Flanders (Belgium) and Giro di Lombardia (Italy).

In 2007, after one of his most successful seasons in Europe, McPartland retired - at just 27.

"I had goals that I couldn't achieve from a Pro 'Conti' level team and after two years in a row of not getting selected in a World Tour Team I was beginning to think about stopping, knowing that guys seven-eight years younger were achieving the same level and were preferred options for the big teams," he confirmed.

"At the same time I had an offer and vision for a coaching-sport directing career offered to me the High Performance Director of Cycling Australia Shayne Bannan.

"That all came at a good time for me and I don't regret it for a moment and, to be fair, I'm now working with and directing athletes at the very highest level of world road cycling (in some cases the very best in the world like Tour of Spain winner Simon Yates), higher than that of which I achieved myself.

"Without doubt seeing guys win after hardships is the greatest thrill.

"Our sport is gruelling, sometimes to extremes, but that is what has made it so popular.

"There's no acting or playing around. The hours spent training and the amount that you win, even the best only win a small percentage of the races they start. There's 180-200 starters and at the same time, there's 10-20 other pro races on and that shows the depth of the sport, that's what makes the victories oh so sweet."

Unfortunately, due to cycling commitments, McPartland won't be able to attend his induction into the Sport Albury Wodonga Hall of Fame on Friday, March 4.

ALSO IN SPORT

"It is very special. I always come back to Albury and know how many successful sportspeople come from the area," he declared proudly.

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