Aussie Evans rides into lead in Spain.

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

trust me mate, if he does, i will let you know as you will let me know if gesink wins.

haha can't wait. I don't think gesink will win. I'm hoping for a podium, but taht's a big call too. Evans rode very strongly yesterday, he might just do it here in spain. But something tell's me Valv. might not have his common bad day this year.

 

[cyclingmad]

Fail

I predict he will fail and wont even podium
sorry just my bold prediction
I am sure i'll have to eat my words in 2 weeks time

+1
I dont think he will win but might podium. Evans never learns from his mistakes and doesn't know how to win anything.
The bad loser reaction with Gesink was an example of this always whinging and blaming someone else for his failings.
Someone will make a move that he reacts too late to and loses the race. Or he will back himself in the TT and come up short again over 30k him and Valverde are about the same level.

 

[TRDean]

+1
I dont think he will win but might podium. Evans never learns from his mistakes and doesn't know how to win anything.
The bad loser reaction with Gesink was an example of this always whinging and blaming someone else for his failings.
Someone will make a move that he reacts too late to and loses the race. Or he will back himself in the TT and come up short again over 30k him and Valverde are about the same level.

I do agree here!! That crybaby stuff after yesterdays stage made me laugh. Evans rode well, I was even complimenting him to my son...then the finish and his wussy attitude. Gesink should have pimp slapped him back down under!

 

[beroepsrenner]

I honestly hope he can win the Vuelta-after all, Cadel is a fighter. but if he is seeking victory, he must do it with panache-not with his infamous wheel sucking style.

Unfortunately this seems to be his style and panache is something you will never see from him. He seems to lack a tactical brain and although he has the physical ability to stay with the best of them he doesnt appear to have the courage and conviction to make his own offensive moves and that is the difference between winning and finishing on the podium. Maybe its due to his crossover from MTB at a relatively late age therefore missing out on the learning curve of junior road racing. His other big weakness is his inability to cope with the psychological pressure of expectation placed upon him which is evident with his continually blaming everyone and everything, except himself, for his failures. While he has the physical ability to do it and I would love to see him do it, I think the only way he will win a GT will be by luck alone.

 

[powderpuff]

While he has the physical ability to do it and I would love to see him do it, I think the only way he will win a GT will be by luck alone.

You will never win a Grand Tour by luck, you have to be in the position to win for that bit of luck to help. To be in that position you have to have a lot of talent and ability. The nature of the peleton and GC riders has changed past 5 years since LA's streak stopped, back then everyone thought LA was going to win and he had a great team that could control the peleton; now every GC rider believes he has a chance of winning and Cadel just has to believe in himself that he is one of those that can win. Maybe his aggressive behaviour is just what he needs to flick that switch to get him on his way.

 

[TRDean]

You will never win a Grand Tour by luck, you have to be in the position to win for that bit of luck to help. To be in that position you have to have a lot of talent and ability. The nature of the peleton and GC riders has changed past 5 years since LA's streak stopped, back then everyone thought LA was going to win and he had a great team that could control the peleton; now every GC rider believes he has a chance of winning and Cadel just has to believe in himself that he is one of those that can win. Maybe his aggressive behaviour is just what he needs to flick that switch to get him on his way.

Totally disagree....you need quite a bit of luck!!

 

[powderpuff]

Totally disagree....you need quite a bit of luck!!

I was referring to the previous quote where he said that Cadel

would only win by luck alone

. I know you need a lot of luck to win a grand tour but luck alone will never get you over the line.

 

[beroepsrenner]

I was referring to the previous quote where he said that Cadel . I know you need a lot of luck to win a grand tour but luck alone will never get you over the line.

"Luck alone" was an overstatement. He obviously has the physical talent but he has shown time after time that he has no tactical brains. He simply follows others. While that will get you onto the podium, it will never get you onto the top step unless luck falls your way.

 

[Bala Verde]

To add to the unfortunate handicap(s) of Evans, Gilbert says the following:

"Maar het grootste deel van mijn aandacht gaat naar onze kopman Cadel Evans. Die slorpt veel energie op, omdat hij zich zo stuntelig door een peloton beweegt. Hij heeft voortdurend ploegmaats nodig om zich te handhaven. Maar zo gaat dat als je een klassementsrenner hebt", wil Gilbert niet klagen. Source

Transl: It costs a lot of energy [working for Evans], because he has difficulties [Lit: is clumsy] moving around in the peloton. He constantly needs help from team mates to maintain his position. I guess that [working hard] is a given when you have a GC contender.

It looks as if they don't get along too well. After the Fleche Wallone, IIRC, he had something similar to say, that Evans couldn't make up his mind. Was he good, or not, did he want people to help him or not, only untill the last moment to then try somehting unannounced on Huy....

He seems to be a rather undecisive leader, perhaps. What was that incident again in the TdF where he asked VDB to attack on Verbier?

 

[auscyclefan94]

To add to the unfortunate handicap(s) of Evans, Gilbert says the following:

It looks as if they don't get along too well. After the Fleche Wallone, IIRC, he had something similar to say, that Evans couldn't make up his mind. Was he good, or not, did he want people to help him or not, only untill the last moment to then try somehting unannounced on Huy....

He seems to be a rather undecisive leader, perhaps. What was that incident again in the TdF where he asked VDB to attack on Verbier?

Gilbert didn't really have a go at evans because he said that you have to use a lot of effort when riding for any gc rider.Evans seems to speak highly of gilbert. I think the trouble for any gc contender like gilbert said is keeping them to the front. In other tdf's i've always seen evans up the front of the peleton and i haven't seen him struggle to keep himself up the front in past tours.

The problem at Fleche was that evans said he wasn't feeling good and then he started to feel better further in the race. Their was a little confusion. AT LBL that was all sorted out as Evans rode in service for Gilbert.

 

[ak-zaaf]

The problem at Fleche was that evans said he wasn't feeling good and then he started to feel better further in the race. Their was a little confusion.

That happens all the time, only reason that became public was the bad results of S/L. If they had won a semi-classic or something in the weeks before that this wouldn't have been such a big deal.

I wonder if Gilbert is going all-out from San Remo to Liege again next year. If he just wishes to focus on the ardennes it might become a problem.

 

[beroepsrenner]

It seems to me that Gilbert is a little resentful of having to work for Evans.