Richie Porte swapped the Champs-Élysées in Paris for Civic Square in Launceston as he spent his 36th birthday enjoying some home-state recognition of his Tour de France podium finish.
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Four months after becoming just the second Australian to achieve the feat, the father-of-two was honoured by both City of Launceston and Cycling Tasmania on Saturday.
As mayors, premiers and a peloton of politicians queued up to acknowledge the achievement, Porte was given a guard of honour by his fellow cyclists and even treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday by the City of Launceston RSL Band.
"It's nice to be recognised in my home state," said the rider, who always competes with a Tasmania-shaped pendant around his neck.
"This is an absolute honour and privilege. I'm a proud Launceston boy and Tasmanian and it's nice when people come up to me in the street and say that the Tour gave them a lot of joy in a weird year."
Despite regularly appearing before television audiences in the millions, Porte said he had "never been so nervous" as he accepted the honour in front of his parents, Ian and Penny, wife, Gemma, their young children, Luca and Eloise, and the rest of his family.
"I'm really humbled and a little bit more emotional than I thought I would be.
"Living overseas I do miss Tasmania and it's always great to get back. We live in a blessed place."
Launceston-born Porte, who grew up in Hadspen and went to Hagley Farm School and St Patrick's College before heading to Europe to pursue his cycling dream, said the key would sit alongside his framed picture of the Tour podium in Paris.
He became the fifth person to receive the honour, following round-the-world yachtsman Ken Gourlay in 2007, boxing world champion Daniel Geale in 2012, national cricket captain Ricky Ponting in 2014 and composer Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE in 2015.
"Noone really cuts us Tasmanians much slack but when you hear those names it does make you proud to be associated with people like that," he added.
"Ricky Ponting is the epitome of a Tasmanian sportsman and the best advert for Launceston because, for everything he has achieved, he is still so humble.
"To get the same honour as him feels really good."
Launceston council unanimously supported a recommendation to present Porte with the key to the city, following a notice of motion from alderman Hugh McKenzie in October last year.
Mayor Albert van Zetten paid tribute to Porte, who has ridden in the elite WorldTour since 2011, claiming numerous titles including multiple victories in both Paris-Nice and the Tour Down Under.
"Richie has been a leading cyclist on the world stage for a number of years now and his performance to finish third at the Tour de France last year was simply an incredible achievement," he said.
"Richie has been a wonderful ambassador not only for his home state Tasmania, but for all Australians and it is certainly an honour to present him with the key to the city in front of his friends, family and his fans."
The key to the city is a symbolic ceremony to recognise outstanding achievement in sport, entertainment or humanitarian work at a national or international level.
Premier Peter Gutwein also paid tribute, saying Porte deserved his place in the "pantheon" of Tasmanian cycling champions and served as an inspiration to future generations of Tasmanians.
Later in the day, Monaco-based Porte, who has said he plans to retire at the end of the two-year contract he has just begun with INEOS Grenadiers, was further acknowledged by his sport.
The inaugural Cycling Tasmania International Medal was presented to acknowledge his "performance and identity as a Tasmanian cyclist who has distinguished himself on the international level and enhanced the reputation of Tasmania as a cycling state".