Northbourne Avenue isn't quite the Champs-Elysees, but Tour de France green jersey champion Michael Matthews is set for a celebration ride when he returns to Canberra.
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Cycling ACT has started plans to honour Matthews with an exhibition ride as part of the National Capital Tour, which runs from September 23-24.
The ACT government has also launched discussions about appropriate ways to mark Matthews' achievement after he became just the third Australian to win the green jersey earlier this week.
Part of the celebration could include lighting up Canberra landmarks in green while Cycling ACT hopes his Tour de France effort inspires a new generation to try the sport.
Matthews, 26, was crowned the Tour de France sprint champion on Monday morning when the gruelling race finished in Paris.
Matthews said the win was a "dream come true" and he is just the third Australian to win the title after Robbie McEwen and Baden Cooke.
Canberra officials are waiting for Matthews to finalise his schedule in the coming months before settling on a celebration of his historic moment.
There is a traditional participation ride as part of the National Capital Tour, and if Matthews is available to partake it would give Canberrans the chance to ride against the sprint king.
Cycling ACT president Lisa Keeling said Matthews' performance in France could have a boom effect on the sport, especially given he was a cycling late-bloomer.
"I think we would get a lot of people who don't necessarily race coming out who would be pretty motivated to see Michael and see the jersey," Keeling said.
"He is in a lot of ways [a poster boy] for cycling. He's not from a cycling family; his [high school physical education teacher] basically said he's got a lot of potential and that's why he started riding.
"He's pretty inspirational and it just goes to show that anything's possible. I think there would be a lot of kids out there who would tap into that sort of story and think that perhaps cycling is something that they would be interested in."
Matthews is still weighing up his racing schedule for the remainder of the season before his likely trip to visit family in Canberra.
He won two stages at the Tour de France this year and has cemented himself as a star of the future.
