greenedge said:
Give me an example of when Scarponi has out climbed Evans when Evans is not suffering from a cold/ Basso cracked him. Scarponi has only finished on the podium twice in a GT. Evans has 4 times ( i could count in 10 when in the Giro he also won the green jersey ). Scarponi has came to the forefront of modern racing late but so did Evans ( 27 ). Menchov can never smash Evans when they are both on good form. Rujano has never versed Cadel practically and the same happens with Igor Anton who is too inconsistent to string back to back wins at a GT. I would have Evans = with JROD, with i may concede ( Nibali and Anton, though Nibali grinds and Anton is inconsistent )
I know Evans is not up to some riders level but he's not hopeless. Classics he usually beats JROD in as well.
Antón dropped Contador in 2010. When has Evans done that?
Antón is a pure climber in every sense of the word - he can drop pretty much everybody in the climbs when he's on form, but his TT and descending are both poor, and his form is evanescent, and consistency lacking. Evans is not a pure climber, this can be seen from his awkward technique and tendency to go too deep into the red chasing the pure climbers, and blow up and lose time. However, Evans is more consistent, more all-round, better at TTing, descending and a stronger, less fragile rider, and this is why he's a much better GC candidate than Antón.
However, an absolutely on fire, on form Antón would likely drop Evans. But Antón would also probably collapse and lose several unnecessary minutes on another day.
Or, for a more direct comparison:
Igor Antón's time on Monte Zoncolán (2011): 40'50".
Cadel Evans' time on Monte Zoncolán (2010): 42'04".
Who's the better climber? Antón. Who's the better rider, better all-rounder, bigger GC threat? Evans.
I'd consider Evans the bigger classics threat than Rodríguez, but the steeper the finish the more Rodríguez becomes a factor. On something like Huy they can be pretty much equal threats, but Evans has more experience there (a vital factor - remember Evans wiping the floor with everyone in '08 only to fade and let Kirchen take the win, a mistake he learnt from in 2010) which makes the difference. For too long Rodríguez was treated as a Plan B thanks to having Valverde as a teammate.
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