Cadel evans do or die for tour de france this july

[Michielveedeebee]

You dutchies better watch out during this week at the Dauphine and during July as the ACF mafia will have the last laugh!

As I'm in both the Belgian and the ACF mafia, I will have the last laugh if Cadel fails miserably (which I do not hope of course!)

 

[the vagabond]

Actually there is one way Evans could win the Tour. He could target second place and hope Contador gets DQed. (If he rides for first, which I'm assuming he will, he will crack and won't finish as high as second.) However, I don't think this strategy would win him many fans.

 

[gatete]

Don't forget Cadel was either sick, sickish, injured, screwed over by teammates, ganged up upon by other teams, fukked by neutral cars or all of the aforementioned in every single GT he has ever raced.

yea, and the sun was in his eyes

 

[hfer07]

his best chance of winning the tdf was in 2008-- and he didn't

cadel: Please get real

 

[slartiblartfast]

Things are actually not looking too bad for Cadel. His results have been terrific this season while his Tour opposition has thinned out. A number of his logical GC rivals chose to ride the Giro instead. Others are suspended. Contador is coming off a tough Giro and surely can't hold his form all the way to Paris. Basso - recently injured and form uncertain. Of course to win he would have to beat the Schlecks which is pretty unlikely. As others have mentioned Cadel normally fades in the third week of a GT. I think he will be on the podium.

 

[greenedge]

Last yr i think Cadel could have won or got podium. He would not have been dropped by Menchov and Samu most likely. He also had a bit of a gain on Contador. And Contador's ITT was weak last yr. Finishing 7 secs behind Armstrong in the Prolouge and then 30th or something in the last ITT.

If the 07 TDF was flat why would Rasmussen have targeted it. He could have just done what he did in 06 working for Menchov. In that TDF Evans was ganged up on. By Popo ( top 10 ) Levi ( 3rd ) and Contador. In 08 it was the same and he had riders like Kohl and Menchov glued to his wheel when Sastre attacked.

This is a great chance this yr for Cadel to get a podium position.

 

[Parrulo]

Last yr i think Cadel could have won or got podium.

one of the funniest things i have heard in a while

 

[delbified]

As others have mentioned Cadel normally fades in the third week of a GT.

the last rest day doesn't seem to be as kind to cadel as the others, for some reason

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

one of the funniest things i have heard in a while

yeah

I'll defend cadel If i think he is being rated unfairly, but he had no chance last year.

 

[Siriuscat]

Cadel has had his chance, short of a disaster for three or four other riders at least I don't see him getting in the top 5 though I'd like to be surprised by him. Likewise, I don't see Wiggins anywhere near the top 5

Contador
Basso
Schleck A
Schleck F
Gesink

 

[movingtarget]

yea, and the sun was in his eyes

More chance the sun was in the eyes of the Spanish rider that fell in front of him in 2008.

 

[movingtarget]

yeah

I'll defend cadel If i think he is being rated unfairly, but he had no chance last year.

You mean because of the yellow jersey he was wearing when he broke his elbow ? No one knows how he would have went last year without the arm injury. It's all conjecture. It's a bit like saying if Menchov was actually in the Tour this year, he would win. I imagine the pain would have been pretty bad on the mountain stages and he did not even try in the time trial because his position on he bike was useless due to the arm. In hindsight he would have been better off pulling out but Evans has always been a competitor and even when outclassed, keeps on trying. Unlike some of the other high profile riders who will pack up as soon as they know they are not going to win.

 

[Dewulf]

You mean because of the yellow jersey he was wearing when he broke his elbow ? No one knows how he would have went last year without the arm injury. It's all conjecture. It's a bit like saying if Menchov was actually in the Tour this year, he would win. I imagine the pain would have been pretty bad on the mountain stages and he did not even try in the time trial because his position on he bike was useless due to the arm. In hindsight he would have been better off pulling out but Evans has always been a competitor and even when outclassed, keeps on trying. Unlike some of the other high profile riders who will pack up as soon as they know they are not going to win.

+ 3 or 4...thousand

 

[Bennyl]

I don't view this years Tour as 'Do or die' for Cadel. Yes he wants to win a Tour but he's won enough prestigious races and had enough amazing performances to ensure he is remembered as a great cyclist. That said, I see this years Tour as maybe one of his very last chances to make an impression on the Tour after being so close and unlucky in the past - as an opportunity, not the death knell.

 

[movingtarget]

I don't view this years Tour as 'Do or die' for Cadel. Yes he wants to win a Tour but he's won enough prestigious races and had enough amazing performances to ensure he is remembered as a great cyclist. That said, I see this years Tour as maybe one of his very last chances to make an impression on the Tour after being so close and unlucky in the past - as an opportunity, not the death knell.

I agree. It's just a shame that 2009 and 2010 TDF's were races he would want to forget for different reasons. I think he is underrated as a classics rider and would like to see him target more of them next year and maybe forget the grand tour victory if his 2011 TDF is ineffective. If he finishes the TDF without a serious fall or illness but still does not perform up to previous performances, it's time to move on and target one week, long races and classics. We have already seen what he can do in the Romandie and Tirreno on a limited preparation. Maybe Paris-Nice and Tour of California and world titles if he gets the right course with plenty of hills.

 

[just some guy]

I agree. It's just a shame that 2009 and 2010 TDF's were races he would want to forget for different reasons. I think he is underrated as a classics rider and would like to see him target more of them next year and maybe forget the grand tour victory if his 2011 TDF is ineffective. If he finishes the TDF without a serious fall or illness but still does not perform up to previous performances, it's time to move on and target one week, long races and classics. We have already seen what he can do in the Romandie and Tirreno on a limited preparation. Maybe Paris-Nice and Tour of California and world titles if he gets the right course with plenty of hills.

The tour is not the only GT - Vuelta is his best chance To win a GT and this years is a good course for Cadel.

 

[Ferminal]

Barring winning the Tour or Vuelta this year he should focus on trying to win a GT for 2012. Skip the classics and the Tour, and put everything towards the Giro then Vuelta. If he doesn't win then he never will, and for the final years of his career should turn to being a classics rider and only go to GTs to build form/stage hunt/support a teammate.

Same with Samu, getting on now and hopefully he can add a GT to his record before too long.

 

[rzombie1988]

Barring winning the Tour or Vuelta this year he should focus on trying to win a GT for 2012. Skip the classics and the Tour, and put everything towards the Giro then Vuelta. If he doesn't win then he never will, and for the final years of his career should turn to being a classics rider and only go to GTs to build form/stage hunt/support a teammate.

Same with Samu, getting on now and hopefully he can add a GT to his record before too long.

I don't think Cadel going for a GT other than the TdF is a bad idea at all. He wouldn't be a favorite for me going into the TdF, but in the Vuelta, I might think he has a chance. I don't see it happening in the Giro though as I think they will continue with the mountain heavy courses. Also, any GT that Contador is in, Cadel should avoid like the plague. None of this will matter though as he will continue losing in the TdF.

 

[Angliru]

or had an arsehole team mate in jurgen van den ****!

Never that he just wasn't good enough. We'll just add your's to his and your long list of excuses.

 

[Descender]

It will become clear after one or two mountain stages that Evans doesn't have a tour in him anymore, yet he will continue to ride his heart out until the end giving 110% for his memorable fifth place, and will thus bury his last chance to win a GT in Madrid in September.

 

[Anonymous]

Im renowned for oversensitivity but considering recent events, I dont like the phrase Die in the thread title.

Im not Cadels biggest fan, but I would rather he did than died at the tour.

 

[tinga1]

Im renowned for oversensitivity but considering recent events, I dont like the phrase Die in the thread title.

Im not Cadels biggest fan, but I would rather he did than died at the tour.

Way oversensitive.

 

[maltiv]

He should start targeting GTs that actually suit him. For example, he could easily have won last years vuelta.

 

[Anonymous]

Way oversensitive.

my tongue was slightly in my cheek

 

[Parrulo]

Im renowned for oversensitivity but considering recent events, I dont like the phrase Die in the thread title.

Im not Cadels biggest fan, but I would rather he did than died at the tour.