Cadel Evans, I told you it was his year.

[Dermie]

Yesterday during the stage at Rai they started talking about the contenders and they then arrived at Cadel Evans.
According to what they heard, it seems that Cadel doesn't have a very smooth relationship with his team (or probably the other way around?).

They reported 2 little examples; one day during a race he received an energy bar at strawberry flavour and he got mad cause he wanted the banana flavour.
Then in another race he asked for a water bottle to his team mate, he went all the way to the team car and get it; once he arrived back to Cadel at the front of the peloton, he said "I dont want water, I want electrolytes".

Those sort of things could well be right, there are probably a few gc contenders that may have had a bit of a "personality" in the heat of the moment. My guess is that one could have easily gotten on the wrong side of the big Lance man if one strayed too much from his wishes. I believe Hinault could have been a bit of a bar steward as well.

 

[Midnightfright]

Yesterday during the stage at Rai they started talking about the contenders and they then arrived at Cadel Evans.
According to what they heard, it seems that Cadel doesn't have a very smooth relationship with his team (or probably the other way around?).

They reported 2 little examples; one day during a race he received an energy bar at strawberry flavour and he got mad cause he wanted the banana flavour.
Then in another race he asked for a water bottle to his team mate, he went all the way to the team car and get it; once he arrived back to Cadel at the front of the peloton, he said "I dont want water, I want electrolytes".

You see this I just can't understand. Who would choose a banana favoured energy bar over a strawberry one? I may have to review my opinion of cadel

 

[just some guy]

Doesn´t seem to be affecting the BMC team - Riding very well as a unit.

 

[Dermie]

You mean energy bar flavours don't affect performance. I think we will have to start a new thread to get a broader opinion on this.

 

[Michele]

You see this I just can't understand. Who would choose a banana favoured energy bar over a strawberry one? I may have to review my opinion of cadel

They were pointing out that he got mad cause of it, not simply complained.

 

[swuzzlebubble]

They were pointing out that he got mad cause of it, not simply complained.

I bought an energy bar on Saturday at the supermarket to take on my Sunday ride. My Mrs decided to eat it Saturday arvo. I got mad.

 

[LukeSchmid]

You see this I just can't understand. Who would choose a banana favoured energy bar over a strawberry one? I may have to review my opinion of cadel

I would, not a great fan of strawberry flavoured things and love bananas

 

[gregrowlerson]

Things are looking really up for Cadel. It might just be a vibe, but I feel that he is a realistic chance to win now, though not quite the favourite. Even gaining some small time over Andy last night is important mentally. And what about Frank out performing his brother? Leopardtrek should keep an open mind about the possibility of the eldest becoming the leader if something goes a bit astray for Andy. BMC looked strong today, especially George Hincapie leading them onto the final climb. Stage 8 will tell us more.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

So are we basing this on two uphill sprints? Maybe then the podium will be something like this: Evans - Hushovd - Gilbert.

Yep, seems about right. Or should we wait a bit before jumping to conclusions? Nah.

 

[movingtarget]

I don't mean to be rude, because I am an AC fan, but... whoever thinks that Cadel is a contender is going to get disappointed soon.

I don't mean to be rude because I am an Evans fan........whoever thinks Contador is a contender must already be disappointed.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

My advice would just be to follow Contador. He races very intelligently and really to win, he needs to beat him. If Cadel could wheelsuck him without stopping for the whole Tour, he might win it. Forget attacking, he wouldn't need to if he follows Contador. Unlike some of his other contenders, he already has a lead and his TT skills are good enough where this might work. Of course following Contador is easier said than done.

If Evans tries to follows Contador he will blow himself and lose 3 minutes.
Dumbest advice you can give him

 

[movingtarget]

If Evans tries to follows Contador he will blow himself and lose 3 minutes.
Dumbest advice you can give him

I agree. It has not worked for him in the past. He has to limit his losses without cracking if that is possible.

 

[Angliru]

Nothing that he doesn't know already.

- Ride your own race

- Don't respond to any early attacks from Contador or the Schlecks, just those in the last 3km. Let them wear each other out.

- Make friends with the more steady pace climbers (Basso, Wiggins, Leipheimer, Kloden, VDB etc - whoever is on form) and work with the ones that are on form then jump away in the last 2-3km.

- Relax and enjoy yourself. You don't have anything to prove.

....and stay out of the yellow jersey for as long as possible. That media focus doesn't seem to do you any favors as history has shown.

 

[cineteq]

If Evans tries to follows Contador he will blow himself and lose 3 minutes. Dumbest advice you can give him

It depends, we don't know yet in what kind of form Contador is after riding the Giro. So I won't call it a dumb advice just yet...

 

[Angliru]

I don't mean to be rude, because I am an AC fan, but... whoever thinks that Cadel is a contender is going to get disappointed soon.

This is typical of excited fans. A rider has a very productive early Tour and the rider's fans get visions of their hero ascending to the top step of the podium in Paris. It's natural but not especially practical. As was stated these stages suited Evans perfectly. These are not yet the mountains so it would be advised that while it is great revel in a rider's ealry successes, keep in mind that there are more than 2 weeks of racing still to come and stages that suit his primary opposition (AC and AS) better than him.

 

[just some guy]

This is typical of excited fans. A rider has a very productive early Tour and the rider's fans get visions of their hero ascending to the top step of the podium in Paris. It's natural but not especially practical. As was stated these stages suited Evans perfectly. These are not yet the mountains so it would be advised that while it is great revel in a rider's ealry successes, keep in mind that there are more than 2 weeks of racing still to come and stages that suit his primary opposition (AC and AS) better than him.

But not a but really but an add as I agree with you,

But it does add to the excitement of the Tour goes up - fanboyism or not. Giro 2010 Evans went hard early and Basso etc had catch-up to do.

Same thing might happen here adds to the interest.

Thing that driving me nuts it people thinking Evans has the tour won. I guess it´s July and all.

 

[kurtinsc]

If Evans tries to follows Contador he will blow himself and lose 3 minutes.
Dumbest advice you can give him

It's okay to attempt to go with Contador, as long as a rider is self aware enough to know when he's beginning to get to the red zone and back off at that point.

In the past (Zoncolan comes to mind) Evans hasn't shown that ability. He hangs on WAY into the red... then crashes HARD. I keep thinking about that stage and how if he had let go of Basso just a little earlier and ridden at a slightly lesser pace, he'd probably have gotten another 30-40 seconds on Scarponi. Perhaps enough to take a place in the GC. He looked physically destroyed once he had to let go of Basso... seemed like the tank was totally empty.

He's done that in the past too. On one hand it's admirable... he's giving everything he has to try to win. On the other hand... not very smart in a tactical sense.

 

[kurtinsc]

But not a but really but an add as I agree with you,

But it does add to the excitement of the Tour goes up - fanboyism or not. Giro 2010 Evans went hard early and Basso etc had catch-up to do.

Same thing might happen here adds to the interest.

Thing that driving me nuts it people thinking Evans has the tour won. I guess it´s July and all.

I don't see people talking that way (with possibly one or two exceptions). What I seem to see is a few people who seem to think Cadel might have a shot now... not that he has it in the bag.

He's not going to gain time on the main contenders in the mountains... but he will gain time in the ITT on Schleck and has a 1:40 lead on Contador now. He's not going to keep Andy close enough or keep Contador at bay if they are on good form... but with their form questionable and the lead over Contador... it's gone from impossible to remotely possible for him to win.

 

[just some guy]

I don't see people talking that way (with possibly one or two exceptions). What I seem to see is a few people who seem to think Cadel might have a shot now... not that he has it in the bag.

He's not going to gain time on the main contenders in the mountains... but he will gain time in the ITT on Schleck and has a 1:40 lead on Contador now. He's not going to keep Andy close enough or keep Contador at bay if they are on good form... but with their form questionable and the lead over Contador... it's gone from impossible to remotely possible for him to win.

He is climbing in the ranking I agree, but he was always in that group of Gesink, VDB2, Fränk, a shack, Basso, Wiggins now only Basso is really losing time everyone else is within 40 seconds - nothing changed for me and I enjoy watch Evans race.

Result
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo 13:58:25
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:01
3 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:00:04
4 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:00:08
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team RadioShack 0:00:10
6 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
7 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:12
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek
10 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek
11 Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad 0:00:13
12 Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad
13 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Highroad
14 Christopher Horner (USA) Team RadioShack 0:00:18
15 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack
16 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack
17 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:20
18 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 0:00:32
19 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:00:33
20 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:00:39
21 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:40
22 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:58
23 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:03
24 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:01:04
25 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Leopard Trek 0:01:06
26 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:01:12
27 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
28 Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha Team
29 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:15
30 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
31 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:01:18
32 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:01:21
33 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team
34 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:01:22
35 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 0:01:29
36 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Katusha Team
37 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:01:31
38 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:34
39 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana
40 Gianni Meersman (Bel) FDJ 0:01:38
41 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:01:42
42

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It's okay to attempt to go with Contador, as long as a rider is self aware enough to know when he's beginning to get to the red zone and back off at that point.

In the past (Zoncolan comes to mind) Evans hasn't shown that ability. He hangs on WAY into the red... then crashes HARD. I keep thinking about that stage and how if he had let go of Basso just a little earlier and ridden at a slightly lesser pace, he'd probably have gotten another 30-40 seconds on Scarponi. Perhaps enough to take a place in the GC. He looked physically destroyed once he had to let go of Basso... seemed like the tank was totally empty.

He's done that in the past too. On one hand it's admirable... he's giving everything he has to try to win. On the other hand... not very smart in a tactical sense.

We saw it in the Dauphine as well.
Vino also has a hand in riding like that. Both Evans and Vino hang on as long as they can and then lose time.
Compara to Gesink, who is at the same climb (allevard) behind the whole time, but in the end the strongest after rodriguez. Because he kept riding own pace.
Better example would be Nibali, the master of riding his own pace.

 

[kurtinsc]

We saw it in the Dauphine as well.
Vino also has a hand in riding like that. Both Evans and Vino hang on as long as they can and then lose time.
Compara to Gesink, who is at the same climb (allevard) behind the whole time, but in the end the strongest after rodriguez. Because he kept riding own pace.
Better example would be Nibali, the master of riding his own pace.

Sastre was always the king of that as well (though his overall ability is fading now).

The longer the climbs, the less the "hang on for dear life" approach seems to work. Occasionally though... hanging on for dear life lets you finish with the same time as a guy where if you rode at your own pace you'd lose 20 seconds... as long as the finish arrives before you completely fail physically. I'm sure it's worked for him a time or two int he past. But you're looking at gaining 20 seconds as opposed to losing 2 minutes... it just doesn't seem like a wise choice.

 

[Parrulo]

Better example would be Nibali, the master of riding his own pace.

D_T saying something go about nibali? now i have seen everything

nibali's way of riding would have prolly gotten evans one or 2 GT's during his career.

 

[No_Balls]

For some reason the AC supporters seem to want to pounce on anyone who is talked up as a contender, as though it is Alberto's destiny to win this race just because he has entered.

Not really. Could just speak for myself though. Things must be put to perspective: IF Alberto is up to it then Cadel just need to follow his own rhytm to minimize his inevitable losses. IF he is not up to it then Cadel will have a better chance to survive (or damage the possible losses) thus coming to a striking distance within Grenoble.

That is a long way and of now we now nothing.

The Spanish Armada / AC lovers / Cadel Haters hovering around this thread makes me think that deep down they know that Bertie is not at the peak of his powers this year... that he is indeed vulnerable and tired from his exertions in the Giro.

I am personally in that emotional state that this might be an option and possibility. He has no personal experience of ridden both the same year so neither he nor we know how the effects will turn out on the last week. On the other hand, he just MIGHT behave differently, so patience is all i recall.

Barring some fanaticism, Cadels supporters also have some degree of trepidation of how the next two and a half weeks will play out (IMO). He does seem a little bit more relaxed this year though... and I reckon even his voice seems an octave deeper? But I reckon he's only gone from sounding like Alvin to Theodore.

Go bananas because of a strawberry bar instead of a banana flavoured one? Is that the normal relaxed state of Cadel?

 

[Angliru]

Yesterday during the stage at Rai they started talking about the contenders and they then arrived at Cadel Evans.
According to what they heard, it seems that Cadel doesn't have a very smooth relationship with his team (or probably the other way around?).

They reported 2 little examples; one day during a race he received an energy bar at strawberry flavour and he got mad cause he wanted the banana flavour.
Then in another race he asked for a water bottle to his team mate, he went all the way to the team car and get it; once he arrived back to Cadel at the front of the peloton, he said "I dont want water, I want electrolytes".

Ummmm....don't get me started. I was somewhat converted to his side by his Versus interview after his stage win but this just brings back memories of his diva side. I guess if you're the protected rider/leader that the team is riding for they should have some idea of what your fueling preferences are but at the same time diplomacy goes along way towards cohesion and unity.

 

[Benotti69]

Cavendish has now equalled Jacques Anquetil and Freddy Maertens with 16 #TdF stage wins.