Cadel and Silence-Lotto

[ckunzmann]

Having watched the coverage on Paris-Nice and reading the daily newsflashes on CyclingNews, I am starting to wonder about an ambitious rider like Cadel !! He has been on the podium twice now in second place, but so far does not look like he has ANY support infrastructure around him.

Seeing him hanging over those handebars going uphill looked like a bit of a struggle at this point in the season.

Then Marc Sargeant wants to wake up his riders (article here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2009/mar09/mar03news2)

I really hope (for his sake) he can get some support and gave it another shot !!

But that is my $0.02

 

[Tom Morris]

Evans is not ambitious. If he were he would not be on Silence-Lotto. He would have done what was necessary to be on a team with proper support in mountains.

 

[Bartoli]

I think only the Astana team and Team CSC/ now Saxo Bank can give him more support compared to Silence-Lotto. This year he got Vandebroeck and Dekker, 2 good climbers who can work for him. I don't know if you noticed it, but in Paris-Nice Vandenbroeck was better than Evans. Silence-lotto even tried to get the number 3 of the last Tour to their squad to support Evans. He was caught using EPO though, and there was no chance of getting a replacement. I don't think it's fair to say the S-L team aint ambitious, they got lots of great riders, they even hired that Body-guard, a special cook for the Tour the France. And Evans knows he aint good enough to recieve full support in one of the teams mentioned above, Saxo Bank can't probably even pay the guy. So he is where he should be, if he would have been good enough last year, he would have won the Tour. Cadel aint simply good enough to win The tour the France, and he will never win it.

 

[Shogun]

It's not that easy to try and leave a team, sign with another team, and mysteriously hope to be the team leader.

I don't want to see him win the TdF, in all honesty. He's a fairly boring rider to watch, and he proved on several occasions IIRC that he's a jerk.

 

[Tom Morris]

I think only the Astana team and Team CSC/ now Saxo Bank can give him more support compared to Silence-Lotto. This year he got Vandebroeck and Dekker, 2 good climbers who can work for him. I don't know if you noticed it, but in Paris-Nice Vandenbroeck was better than Evans. Silence-lotto even tried to get the number 3 of the last Tour to their squad to support Evans. He was caught using EPO though, and there was no chance of getting a replacement. I don't think it's fair to say the S-L team aint ambitious, they got lots of great riders, they even hired that Body-guard, a special cook for the Tour the France. And Evans knows he aint good enough to recieve full support in one of the teams mentioned above, Saxo Bank can't probably even pay the guy. So he is where he should be, if he would have been good enough last year, he would have won the Tour. Cadel aint simply good enough to win The tour the France, and he will never win it.

Truth here, but with support Evans would have won the Tour last year.

I am just saying that if Evans were really intent on winning the TdF then five years ago he and his manager would have put him on a team that had the TdF as a goal. Instead he ended up on a team that was built more around McEwen and one day races.

This year Evans will struggle to get into the top five in July.

 

[carrera]

Sense of humour!

Just because Cadel has a quirky sense of humour that you don't understand doesn't make him a jerk.

Cadel may or may not ever win a TDF but he has a record that still stands up to scrutiny and never gives any less that 100% in the tour, what more do you want?

 

[Cate00]

I am just saying that if Evans were really intent on winning the TdF then five years ago he and his manager would have put him on a team that had the TdF as a goal. Instead he ended up on a team that was built more around McEwen and one day races.

I seem to remember Cadel answering this once - he said something along the lines of preferring to stay in a team he was familiar with, and trusted to be built around him in the future than move to an unfamiliar team with perhaps better short term prospects. Whether that was a wise decision or not is another question, but to me, it has seemed as if Lotto have been trying to build support (in the last 2-3 years, at least) but making some not-so-good decisions about support riders. Why they ever let Horner go astounds me.

 

[unsheath]

It's a real shame that Kohl turned out to be a doper and similarly Popo being the worse signing of the decade. Good to see his bad form continuing at Astana.

 

[Bartoli]

Truth here, but with support Evans would have won the Tour last year.

Remember how bad Evans was in the last time-trial? A good team would not have solved that problem. He was kind of unlucky to be in a race with two dopers who set an extremely high pace in the mountains (Piepoli and Riccó). That might've made him lose, not his team.

And yeah, S-L was extremely unlucky with Popo last year, the intention and ambition to support Evans was there, it just didn't work out.

 

[Tom Morris]

Remember how bad Evans was in the last time-trial? A good team would not have solved that problem.

He had been beaten down because he had no team support throughout the race. If Popoffthebacka***** would have done his job on the Alpe then Evans still might have won.

 

[180mmCrank]

Cadel will be there or there abouts - there were some signs of life during Paris Nice and it's a long way to July...

 

[schadenfreude]

Evans is not ambitious. If he were he would attack, instead of constantly suck wheel.

corrected. .....

 

[Darren]

Cadel Evans

Hi all,

I am an Aussie & an unashamed Cadel Evans fan. I met & spent a couple of hours with him last November & he is a top bloke & always gives 100%.
Yes he is a quiet guy, but quiet doesn't mean boring in my books.
Re last years tour, no one has yet mentiond the nasty crash he had in stage 9. I'm of the opinion this affected him a lot more than he let on & after being isolated in the mountains because Popovych was so useless he struggled to make up enough time on Sastre in the final tt. Sure he's not the most aggressive rider but that's just his style & he does what he can with the support he has at his disposal. Remember he injured his knee (on the dancefloor I think) after last years tour & has done a lot of rehab in the off season. I don't think his Paris-Nice ride is a true indication of his form come July. Accuse me of dreaming however if Lance keeps taking pot shots at Alberto & a bit of disunity arises at Astana, a quiet achiever like Cadel (as long as he gets more help from his new team mates) may just surprise everyone in July 09. No one really thought Sastre would win last year & as disappointed as I was to see Cadel come second again, I was very happy for Carlos Sastre. Like Cadel I believe he is a gentleman of the sport & his integrity (ie doping) has never been questioned.

 

[lookkg386]

Cadel fan of course but I am far from a Silence-Lotto fan, was devastated with how the team went at last years tour and this years team looks no better. Cadel will have his work cut out with many more powerful teams but you never know - he will fight all the way and as Sastre showed sometimes it only takes 1 stage to break it open.

 

[Merckx]

I guess I'm swayed easily. Every time people talk about Cadel, I think of those youtube videos from last year's tour?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrpL6BA6PBQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fe79ZuDKfk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikzgWE3t0A&feature=related

Doesn't come across as a people's man does he?

 

[msjett]

I would like to see Cadel win, he works hard and does his best with what he has got.

I have to agree with Darren, that fall was bad, and he probably didn't recover from it enough to go into the TT with half a chance of making up time. Sastre won because his team gave great support when needed and whilist disappointed it wouldn't be Cadels year, I was still happy for him to win....had Menchov not fallen on the alp...well the result could have been different again....

 

[skidmark]

Don't stand on my Cadel, or I cut your head off...

 

[schadenfreude]

 

[Angliru]

I'm NOT much of an Evans fan but even I would have to disagree with you. Had he rode a decent time trial last year he would have had the Tour win. Had he immediately upped his tempo in pursuit of Sastre on Alpe d'Huez, not to catch him but to immediately limit his potential losses, he would have had enough to time in the end to win the Tour. Sastre was the only true threat among the CSC/Savo Bk crew to his overall victory with Frank Schleck being horrible versus the clock, and Andy Schleck already being out of contention because of previous time loss.

I agree with the last part of your sentence that he will never win the Tour now that Contador is back, Leipheimer continues to defy Father Time, and other riders like Andy Schleck and Robert Gesink are on the horizon to bring serious pain to Evans in the mountains.

Evans only chance for a Tour win was 2008.

 

[BroDeal]

I'm much of an Evans fan but even I would have to disagree with you. Had he rode a decent time trial last year he would have had the Tour win. Had he immediately upped his tempo in pursuit of Sastre on Alpe d'Huez, not to catch him but to immediately limit his potential losses, he would have had enough to time in the end to win the Tour. Sastre was the only true threat among the CSC/Savo Bk crew to his overall victory with Frank Schleck being horrible versus the clock, and Andy Schleck already being out of contention because of previous time loss.

Yup. Evans team screwed him. They should have told him via radio to just time trial to the top of the Alpe and forget about the Schlecks, just ride a solid, unrelenting tempo to limit Sastre's gain. Instead they let him play games with the chase pack and the pack's pace went up and down while Sastre gained time. You could see the pace vary by watching Menchov chase the chase..

 

[Angliru]

Sastre won because his team gave great support when needed and whilist disappointed it wouldn't be Cadels year, I was still happy for him to win....had Menchov not fallen on the alp...well the result could have been different again....

Sastre won because of his experience, tactical expertise and his willingness to seize the moment. You can say what you will about Evans' lack of support compared to the strength of CSC but I do recall Sastre on more than one occasion fetching bottles for Frank Schleck on mountainous stages. That couldn't have had any beneficial effects on his overall endurance for later stage performance but he endured never-the-less. Evans lost the Tour because of a tactical mistake and a mediocre final time trial. Also remember Sastre's history in the Tour. He always seems to gain strength over the course of the 3 weeks with his best performances coming in the 3rd week when others are wearing down.

By the way Menchov never fell on the Alpe. He attempted to cover Sastre's attack but couldn't and was caught by the yellow jersey group (F. Schleck) that included all of the contenders at the time. Menchov was then dropped if I recall and eventually fought back and regained contact with F. Schleck,Evans and company if I recall correctly. His fall came on the wet pavement on the climb to Prato Nevoso a couple of stages before. I remember that he was looking especially strong that day and had quickly created significant gap that no one seemed able to cover.

 

[Bala Verde]

By the way Menchov never fell on the Alpe. He attempted to cover Sastre's attack but couldn't and was caught by the yellow jersey group (F. Schleck) that included all of the contenders at the time. Menchov was then dropped if I recall and eventually fought back and regained contact with F. Schleck,Evans and company if I recall correctly. His fall came on the wet pavement on the climb to Prato Nevoso a couple of stages before. I remember that he was looking especially strong that day and had quickly created significant gap that no one seemed able to cover.

You are correct, that is to say, I remember having seen the same thing.

 

[Baggins27]

I remember that he was looking especially strong that day and had quickly created significant gap that no one seemed able to cover.

Yep, that's how i remember it. Was one of the most ill timed stacks of the entire three weeks.


Did make me laugh though.

 

[Angliru]

Yep, that's how i remember it. Was one of the most ill timed stacks of the entire three weeks.


Did make me laugh though.

I felt for him because it looked like had he not fallen he would have taken some decent time out of his competition, potentially putting him on the podium. This year he'll have the support of Gesink in the mountains and that should help him.

 

[Bartoli]

You probably mean Thomas Dekker.

Evans only chance for a Tour win was 2008.

That's what i meant to say. Last year was imo his only chance to win. He had a nasty fall and all that. But people forget he was too early in a great shape (remember the Dauphine). That might be the reason he was not good enough in the last week of last years tdf and did not a good timetrial. Evans had his chance last year. This year and the coming years other (young) riders will be better.