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Wrapped in his national flag and with tears in his eyes, Evans listened as Australia's anthem played on Sunday after he became the first Australian - and oldest rider since World War II - to win the Tour de France.
"I couldn't be any happier. A few people always believed in me. I always believed in me. And we did it," the 34-year-old Evans said.
He celebrated after crossing the finish line in the pack on the Champs-Elysee, embracing riders from different teams as the massive crowd on France's most famous thoroughfare cheered wildly.
Evans bounded up the steps onto the podium, taking deep breaths, then appeared at the top looking calm and waved the bouquet he received in the air. "Thank you to everyone. It's really incredible," he told the crowd.
Evans was joined on the podium by the Schleck brothers of Luxembourg - Andy, who finished second overall for the third straight year, and Frank. Andy finished 1 minute, 34 seconds behind Evans in the final standings.
Australian singer Tina Arena sang the national anthem. Evans' Italian wife, Chiara, stood beside him after the presentation ceremony.
"I think he's worked very hard," she said.
It's been a long wait for Evans, who first showed himself as a challenger for major races in 2002, and twice finished second in the Tour, in 2007 and 2008, but couldn't quite make it to the top of the podium until now.
Evans is the oldest winner of the Tour since World War II, narrowly eclipsing Gino Bartali of Italy - who was also 34 but slightly younger - when he won in 1948. The all-time record was set by 36-year-old Firmin Lambot of Belgium - in 1922.
"Cadel was the best of the Tour and he deserved to win," said Andy Schleck. "Second isn't bad, and my brother was on the podium too. I'll be back to win this Tour. We have a date for next year."
Sunday's 21st and final stage - the most prestigious for the race's sprinters - was won by Britain's Mark Cavendish for the third year in a row, despite being forced to change his bike on the Champs-Elysees. He also took the green jersey for the overall best sprinter.
Cavendish crossed the line holding out the green jersey he was wearing, and then kissed it. Despite his 20 Tour stage victories, the jersey had eluded him until now.
"Finally!" he said.
Second place in the stage went to Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway, and third to Andre Greipel of Germany.
This year was a far cry from the Tours of many recent years that were dominated almost from the start by Lance Armstrong or, later, Alberto Contador. This was a race that defied predictions and was still hanging in the balance on the final weekend.
Evans rarely made his presence known, but he was always there. Up every mountain he was never more than one bicycle length behind his rivals. With a small lead that he'd picked up in the early stages of the race and a lot of strength in time-trialing, he knew that he didn't need to attack in order to win.
Still, when Andy Schleck broke away from the field on the climb of the Galibier pass on Thursday, observers thought Evans' BMC team had made a fatal mistake. But Evans remained calm.
He went into the time trial needing to make up almost a minute on Schleck; he made up more than two-and-a-half.
"The real highlight was the last three to four kms of the time trial yesterday because I knew we were on the right track," Evans said.
The polka-dot jersey awarded to the best climber went to Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez of Spain, who brought his two children onto the podium with him. The best young rider was Pierre Rolland of France, who won the classic climb up the Alpe d'Huez on Friday.
Before setting off on Sunday, riders removed their helmets and observed a minute of silence in tribute to the victims of the attacks in Norway.
"When this kind of thing happens, everybody forgets about the sport," said Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd. "It's not even important in comparison.
"It's quite nice that everybody thinks of us. We're a small country ... unfortunately this can happen anywhere."
Hushovd and Boasson Hagen won two stages each in this year's race.
Standings from the 21st and final stage of the Tour de France, a 95km ride from Creteil to Paris on Sunday:
1. Mark Cavendish (GBR/HTC) 2h27min 02sec
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/SKY) at 0:00.
3. Andr Greipel (GER/OLO) 0:00.
4. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 0:00.
5. Fabian Cancellara (SUI/LEO) 0:00.
6. Daniel Oss (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
7. Borut Bozic (SLO/VAC) 0:00.
8. Tomas Vaitkus (LTU/AST) 0:00.
9. Gerald Ciolek (GER/QST) 0:00.
10. Jimmy Engoulvent (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
11. Sbastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
12. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 0:00.
13. Mark Renshaw (AUS/HTC) 0:00.
14. Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP/SKY) 0:00.
15. Francisco Ventoso (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
16. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
17. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
18. Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
19. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
20. Sbastien Turgot (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
21. Jos Joaquin Rojas (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
22. Arnaud Coyot (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
23. Alan Perez Lezaun (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
24. Fabio Sabatini (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
25. Sbastien Minard (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
26. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
27. Rein Taaramae (EST/COF) 0:00.
28. Rob Ruijgh (NED/VAC) 0:00.
29. Arnold Jeannesson (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
30. Christian Knees (GER/SKY) 0:00.
31. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 0:00.
32. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 0:00.
33. Fabio-Leonardo Duque (COL/COF) 0:00.
34. Peter Velits (SVK/HTC) 0:00.
35. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
36. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 0:00.
37. Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU/GRM) 0:00.
38. Jeremie Galland (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
39. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
40. Julien El Fars (FRA/COF) 0:00.
41. Paolo Longo Borghini (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
42. Dries Devenyns (BEL/QST) 0:00.
43. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
44. Maartens Tjallingii (NED/RAB) 0:00.
45. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 0:00.
46. Simon Gerrans (AUS/SKY) 0:00.
47. Stuart O'Grady (AUS/LEO) 0:00.
48. Matthew Goss (AUS/HTC) 0:00.
49. Mickael Delage (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
50. Yannick Talabardon (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
51. Frank Schleck (LUX/LEO) 0:00.
52. Ruben Perez Moreno (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
53. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 0:00.
54. Bauke Mollema (NED/RAB) 0:00.
55. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/SAX) 0:00.
56. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) 0:00.
57. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BMC) 0:00.
58. George Hincapie (USA/BMC) 0:00.
59. Michael Schr (SUI/BMC) 0:00.
60. Brent Bookwalter (USA/BMC) 0:00.
61. Maxime Monfort (BEL/LEO) 0:00.
62. Steve Morabito (SUI/BMC) 0:00.
63. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0:00.
64. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
65. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 0:00.
66. Rui Costa (POR/MOV) 0:00.
67. Ivan Gutierrez (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
68. Andy Schleck (LUX/LEO) 0:00.
69. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/LEO) 0:00.
70. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/QST) 0:00.
71. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
72. Robert Gesink (NED/RAB) 0:00.
73. Cyril Gautier (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
74. Anthony Roux (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
75. Marcel Sieberg (GER/OLO) 0:00.
76. Vincent Jrme (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
77. Anthony Delaplace (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
78. Alessandro Vanotti (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
79. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
80. Tristan Valentin (FRA/COF) 0:00.
81. Maciej Bodnar (POL/LIQ) 0:00.
82. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/RSH) 0:00.
83. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 0:00.
84. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
85. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 0:00.
86. Laurent Mangel (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
87. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
88. Sandy Casar (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
89. Denys Kostyuk (UKR/LAM) 0:00.
90. David Loosli (SUI/LAM) 0:00.
91. Richie Porte (AUS/SAX) 0:00.
92. Michael Buffaz (FRA/COF) 0:00.
93. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
94. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
95. Fabrice Jeandesboz (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
96. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
97. Jrgen Roelandts (BEL/OLO) 0:00.
98. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
99. Yury Trofimov (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
100. Jonathan Hivert (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
101. David Arroyo (ESP/MOV) 0:00.
102. Yohann Gene (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
103. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
104. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
105. Jrome Coppel (FRA/SAU) 0:00.
106. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 0:00.
107. Daniel Navarro (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
108. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
109. Markel Irizar (ESP/RSH) 0:00.
110. Jens Voigt (GER/LEO) 0:00.
111. Johnny Hoogerland (NED/VAC) 0:00.
112. Levi Leipheimer (USA/RSH) 0:00.
113. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
114. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) 0:00.
115. Thor Hushovd (NOR/GRM) 0:00.
116. Joost Posthuma (NED/LEO) 0:00.
117. Jesus Hernandez (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
118. Rigoberto Uran (COL/SKY) 0:00.
119. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 0:00.
120. Linus Gerdemann (GER/LEO) 0:00.
121. Brian Vandborg (DEN/SAX) 0:00.
122. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
123. Chris Anker Srensen (DEN/SAX) 0:00.
124. Carlos Barredo (ESP/RAB) 0:00.
125. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 0:00.
126. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/AST) 0:00.
127. Nicolas Roche (IRL/ALM) 0:00.
128. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
129. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) 0:00.
130. Sylvester Szmyd (POL/LIQ) 0:00.
131. Andrej Zeits (KAZ/AST) 0:00.
132. Lieuwe Westra (NED/VAC) 0:00.
133. Kristjan Koren (SLO/LIQ) 0:00.
134. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
135. Anthony Charteau (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
136. Maxime Bouet (FRA/ALM) 0:00.
137. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 0:00.
138. Nicki Srensen (DEN/SAX) 0:00.
139. Benjamin Noval (ESP/SAX) 0:00.
140. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/GRM) 0:00.
141. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 0:00.
142. Dmitry Muravyev (KAZ/RSH) 0:00.
143. Amal Moinard (FRA/BMC) 0:00.
144. Jrme Pineau (FRA/QST) 0:00.
145. Egor Silin (RUS/KAT) 0:00.
146. Ben Swift (ENG/SKY) 0:00.
147. Sergio Paulinho (POR/RSH) 0:00.
148. Marco Marcato (ITA/VAC) 0:00.
149. Xavier Zandio (ESP/SKY) 0:00.
150. Danny Pate (USA/HTC) 0:00.
151. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/RAB) 0:00.
152. Thomas DE GEN (BEL/VAC) 0:33.
153. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/BMC) 0:33.
154. Manuel Quinziato (ITA/BMC) 0:33.
155. Addy Engels (NED/QST) 0:33.
156. David Moncouti (FRA/COF) 0:33.
157. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 0:35.
158. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 0:35.
159. Tony Martin (GER/HTC) 0:36.
160. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/HTC) 0:38.
161. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/HTC) 0:48.
162. Jeremy Roy (FRA/FDJ) 0:59.
163. Sebastian Lang (GER/OLO) 0:59.
164. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/OLO) 0:59.
165. Adriano Malori (ITA/LAM) 1:32.
166. Matteo Bono (ITA/LAM) 1:32.
167. Lars Ytting Bak (DEN/HTC) 1:43.
