In his first head coaching team gig at the world's biggest road cycle event, the Werri Beach resident and his 24-person squad for the 21-stage wrapped up their preparation for the event in Belgium.

"We arrived in Brussels four days before the race started to finalise our preparations," Pulton said.

"For the riders, it's the moment they realise that they are about to start the biggest race in the world.

"Our team has a roster of 24 riders and they all want to ride the Tour de France but only eight get selected.

"So the first challenge is to make the Tour de France team.

"Before the race starts, the guys are at peak fitness and there is a feeling that anything can happen in the Tour.

"To win a stage is life-changing and the riders know this."

Unfortunately, before even the first wheel was pedalled, Poulton's team had a spanner in the works.

"Going into the race, we had the unfortunate situation of losing our key sprinter Marcel Kittel," he said.

"Our team for the Tour de France was built around supporting Kittel in the sprints.

"Having a rider like Kittel is as close as you come to being guaranteed a stage win in this event - as he won five stages in 2017."

As such, Poulton had to quickly change his team's goals.

"Without Kittel, our goal became trying to get riders into the breakaway each stage and hope that it survives to the end," he said.

"Teams generally focus on with the general classification, which is going for the overall win, or they focus on trying to win a stage.

"Our hope was to try and win a stage from a breakaway."

As sound as these plans appeared, Poulton admits his team could have performed better across the 3,365.8km event.

"We had riders suited to particular stages," he said.

"From our eight riders, most of them performed at their season's best and were able to make their way into the day's breakaway and be part of the race.

"Unfortunately, we had a few riders that weren't able to live up to expectation and found it difficult to animate the racing."

Poulton puts a lot of this down to the fact his side were without their leader Kittel.

"Without Kittel, it made it difficult for the riders to commit to the plan for each stage," he said.

"When you are working for a rider that you know is going to win, then the athletes can find that extra motivation to work hard and take risks.

"In the sprint finishes, we were working for a different rider in each stage and this made it difficult for the riders to become accustomed to their position in the sprint lead out.

"Quite often we were hitting the front of the race too early, only to be swamped by the stronger teams."

As difficult as it was, Poulton's team went through the first 18 stages without any major incidents before reaching the Swiss Alps and their chaotic weather.

"During stage 19 there was a landslide caused by a massive amount of hail falling high in the mountains," he said.

"The road was blocked and the leading riders were unable to get through.

"The riders were informed during the racing, the stage had been cancelled and that the finish time would be taken at the summit of the previous mountain pass.

"We had the situation of the riders at the front knowing the race was over but the riders behind were still racing to catch the leading riders.

"To convey that the stage was cancelled to 170 riders spread over a distance of 15km is not an easy task.

"I was in the main race car of our team that day and I actually heard the stage was cancelled from my wife [Erin] who was watching the race on television back in Australia."

In the same breath, there were numerous highlights, including the team time trial.

"This is the event where it's all about how strong the team is as a whole," he said.

"We placed fifth in this stage, beating many of the more fancied teams.

"I was very proud of our performance in this stage as it showed that when it comes to pure horsepower, we were one of the strongest teams.

"As a coach, this is my favourite stage as it involves all the technology in the bikes, the science in the performance and it's a great spectacle for the fans."

As his Team Katusha Alpecin team was made up of riders looking to contest sprint stages, they were never going to feature high on the team classification (18^th overall) but with all things considered, Poulton was 'satisfied' with their final placing, saying there is still room for improvement.

One rider who impressed Poulton was his Danish debutant Mads Schmidt.

"At the start of stage one he [Mads] said I'm going to attack straight away and make the break of the day," he said.

"Sure enough, he did what he set out to do.

"He wasn't intimidated by the race or the more experienced riders.

"Throughout the rest of the race, he was able to make his way into several breaks and really show what he is capable of to the world."

Poulton credited all eight of his riders for their commitment to finishing the Tour de France.

"There is also a side to the tour viewers don't get to see on television," he said.

"The riders who are racing to win are working extremely hard and performing these amazing physical performances each day.

"But at the back of the race there are a group of riders, generally the sprinters, suffering incredibly through the mountain stages and are just trying to finish the stage within the time limit or they are expelled from the race.

"To see how much these riders suffer is incredible.

"There is a real fear of certain stages from the riders as they know they are in for a tough day."

Upon reflecting on his first Tour de France in charge of Team Katusha Alpecin, Poulton has learnt plenty to take forward in his career.

"There's always more that can be done - the main thing is to go into the race confident in the work you've done and to focus on your own plan," he said.

"There's always talk of what other teams are doing but if you do the basics well, then the team will be successful.

"We only lost one rider from the race due to illness.

"The other seven riders all completed the race healthy and without any problems."

Now Poulton has finished the 2019 event, he is looking forward to recharging the batteries before his next events.

"I definitely need a rest - the days are long and you are constantly organising riders, planning nutrition or travelling," he said.

"Another thing you don't see on television is the travel required after each stage to the next hotel.

"On some occasions we had a three-hour drive to the next hotel immediately after the stage finish - 23 hotels in 23 days is a lot of packing and unpacking.

"I'll next head to Andorra for an altitude camp preparing riders the remaining races of the season, before setting off for Yorkshire for the World Championships in October."