Helen Cocks had plenty of time to think about the possible scenarios as she made the long flight from Australia to Paris to surprise son Cadel Evans at the finish of the penultimate stage of the Tour de France.
When their long journeys converged in Saint-Amond-Montrond, after Cadel's dream of becoming the first Australian to win cycling's greatest race had all but evaporated for another year, it was a consoling hug she gave him.
''I am so proud of him, he's wonderful,'' Ms Cocks said.
Determined to ensure Evans was not distracted, his mother kept her trip secret until after he'd completed the 53km individual time trial.
He needed to close down a 94-second gap on the race leader, Spain's Carlos Sastre, to give himself a realistic chance of victory, but managed to squeeze the margin down to 65 seconds only.
Nevertheless, Ms Cocks was glad she had made the last-minute decision to travel.
''It's wonderful to see him ... always he wants to win because that's what people want, but I think he's just happy he's been able to make cycling more popular in Australia, and it is so wonderful that they're supporting him.''
Australian fans were out in force to cheer him on and Evans was grateful.
''Thanks for coming,'' he said. ''It's just incredible and I hope they enjoyed the race and the experience.
''I'm kind of proud to introduce some more people, some more Australians, to cycling. Of course it fills me with pride to see the Aussies there cheering.''
Also at the finish line was Evans's wife, Chiara, who was so nervous during the time trial that she could not watch. ''Now I'm relaxed and relieved that everything is finished,'' she said afterwards.
''It doesn't matter that he's second, third, 10th, first, because he's always a winner to me.''
She admitted feeling distress at how exhausted her husband was at the finish.
''I felt very bad at that time for him because he looked awful,'' she said.
''The worst part of the tour was seeing him today after the race so empty of energy.
''I think you really need to love this sport to do that and he's very determined.''
In effect, the result sealed Evans's fate to be runner-up for a second straight year.
''To come in two times second is a bit bitter,'' Evans said.
''I will be back next year. I think I have three or four good tours left in me.''
It was an unforgiving outcome for the diminutive 31-year-old, who grabbed the race leader's yellow jersey on the 10th stage, a day after a horrific crash left him dazed and nursing an injured shoulder.
He held the ''maillot jaune'' for five stages. ''I just have to be happy that I could continue,'' Evans said.
''Ten seconds later I came to and went, 'Oh, that's right. I'm in the race, I have to get going.'
''Physically maybe it cost me 5 [or] 10percent in power, but I tried to make up that with a mental thing.
''Then emotionally, as a sporting experience, to bounce back the next day and get the yellow jersey was quite something.''
But Evans's Silence-Lotto team struggled against the collective power of Sastre's CSC outfit, which routinely called on three riders Fabian Cancellara, Jens Voigt and Andy Schleck to step up the pace in a bid to tire Evans out.
The tactic was telling in the Alps, where strong climber Sastre gained the ascendancy over Evans.
''That was, in theory, our biggest room for improvement,'' the cyclist recalled.
''They had a budget two, 212 times ours, so of course they can buy better-quality riders.
''CSC had the power in this tour. Every time I looked around, I saw CSC riders ... they did a great job.''
Canberran and former professional cyclist Stephen Hodge said Evans had been under enormous pressure for the three weeks of the tour.
''It comes down to the fact that he alone in his team has had to be present and take responsibility in all the key moments of the race,'' he said.
''Cadel's been omnipresent: it's been an all-or-nothing effort for him as the only rider on his team who could compete for the general classification or yellow jersey.''
Hodge, who rode six Tours de France between 1989 and 1995, said Sastre's Danish CSC team had cosseted its tour winner more effectively than Evans's Dutch Silence-Lotto team had looked after him.
''Quite clearly, Cadel's capable of winning the tour. Also, quite clearly he needs to be able to be kept on cotton wool for longer.
''He has had to take responsibility when things got tough.
''On the other hand, you'd often see four or five CSC riders at the front of a bunch ... to a large extent dictating what happened in the race.
''We weren't really talking about Carlos Sastre much until the past few days. We were talking about ... other riders in the CSC team.''
AAP - Additional reporting, Robert Wilson