Cadel Evans is the "Mark Martin" of cycling!

[BigBoat]

Just like the race car driver, how many F-ing 2nd places and top 10s can you get without a huge win?

Now I dont believe in the "peter pan" fairy tale that he is "clean as a whistle" but common get yourself a huge win already jesus!

Try and win the Vuelta Mark I mean Cadel Evans!

Dont touch me~~~!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikzgWE3t0A

 

[BroDeal]

I would say the Davis Coulthard of racing but Coulthard did occasionally win.

Evans should have targeted the Vuelta. If Menchov can win that, Evans could. It would be better for him to end his career with one GT win--even if it were the lowly Vuelta. It is better than only a string of top ten TdF finishes.

 

[lookkg386]

Cadel Poulidor? Hate to say it but i kind of agree that the Vuelta may be the only GT he could win, the climbs in Italy and France may not suit his style as much. But he is obsessed with winning the TDF and back to back 2nd places show that he isn't that far off.

 

[msjett]

I think that 2nd two years running is an accomplishment in itself. Why do people have to put Cadel down? Because of him finishing 2nd twice there are more Australians interested in cycling. I think that is actually pretty good and something anyone could be proud of.

 

[Anonymous]

hes a decent enough cyclist.. i still dont think he has the guts to really challenge but ive already been told off for that..

but i do think his personality counts against him, he doesnt make you want to like him, or want him to win, personally, as far as cadel goes, i just dont care.. theres nothing about him that makes me want to...

its a shame, cos he is a decent cyclist, he just bores the pants off me.. i think if hed raced in a different generation he could have been succesful... but nowadays, i dunno, hes not very media worthy... :/

 

[msjett]

Dimspace - saying he doesn't have guts to do something isn't a telling off offence in my book. You could be right, I don't know why he can't get to first place?

To be totally honest I have to agree about the way he comes across in the media...I am sure that people see that and dislike him for that reason alone.

I think he is a grinder.....nothing flamboyant, and I could see how that would be boring to watch and non media worthy.

But I think credit where credit it is due, and as an Australian, I am proud of his achievements, and of the other Aussie riders in the sport of cycling.

I guess thats why I feel annoyed when people are making snide references to other supposedly unsuccessful sports people!

 

[elapid]

First places for Cadel Evans since turning pro:
2001-Tour of Austria
2004-Tour of Austria (including stage 2)
2006-Tour of Romandie (including stage 5)
2007-Stage 13 TdF, ProTour champion
2008-Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali (and stage 3), Stage 4 Paris-Nice, Stage 2 Vuelta a Andalucía
2009-Stage 5 Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali

Cadel may get a lot of second places, but he can also win as you see above. Individual riders did not beat him last year, teams did (SaxoBank in the TdF for instance). Yes, I am an Aussie and naturally support Cadel. While I make no excuses for his behaviour nor his riding style, he is a solid rider. He may not be the best climber and he may not be the best TTer, but he is better than most TTers at climbing and most climbers at TTing. That's why he often challenges for wins (with lots of top 4 places) and occasionally wins as well.

 

[BroDeal]

First places for Cadel Evans since turning pro:
2001-Tour of Austria
2004-Tour of Austria (including stage 2)
2006-Tour of Romandie (including stage 5)
2007-Stage 13 TdF, ProTour champion
2008-Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali (and stage 3), Stage 4 Paris-Nice, Stage 2 Vuelta a Andalucía
2009-Stage 5 Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali

Cadel may get a lot of second places, but he can also win as you see above. Individual riders did not beat him last year, teams did (SaxoBank in the TdF for instance). Yes, I am an Aussie and naturally support Cadel. While I make no excuses for his behaviour nor his riding style, he is a solid rider. He may not be the best climber and he may not be the best TTer, but he is better than most TTers at climbing and most climbers at TTing. That's why he often challenges for wins (with lots of top 4 places) and occasionally wins as well.

I don't know, bro. Given Evans talent that is a pretty pi-is poor record--Dang, I cannnot use pi-is poor because of the word filter. Heck, Tommy D. won the Tour of Austria.

 

[elapid]

Yeah, but Tommy D. didn't get 2nd twice in the TdF and 4th in the Vuelta. He may not have won some of the big races, but he got pretty damn close. Not bad in my book. Who knows with a team built around him? At least he doesn't get the ol' Tommy D. stomach cramps when he doesn't perform up to scratch!

 

[bikepure]

O MY GOD. to ALL of the above.
Evans is the best, cleanest rider on the planet.
11 and 12 years ago he was the best MTBer on the planet winning the world cup . He races Feb until October (not like some who focus on one race) giving fans and sponsors top value for money.

Is a podium finish in a grand Tour not success?


http://www.bikepure.org
riders you can trust.

 

[ingsve]

So would you rate Carlos Sastre above Cadel because Sastre finally got his win? I wouldn't.

It's not all about the wins. You can be a great terrific rider and still not get alot of wins. To win alot of races you need to have a strong weapon. Either a ood sprint, good explosiveness in climbing or good time trialing.

Cadel is a decent time trialer but he's not the one that wins most time trials he runs. He's not a great sprinter and eventhough he's very strong in the mouantains he's not the most explosive guy there.

That leaves winning stage races. To do that you need to be the strongest racer in the field. But that's not always enough. If you're the strongest racer but don't have the explosivity to put distance between yourself and the rest in the mountains then you won't win any time.

That's where Cadel stands imo. He's a strong rider but he lacks the winning weapon to make the most out of his strength.

Look at Alessandro Valverde as an opposite. He's arguaby not as strong overall as Cadel in the mountains but he is very explosive which means he can take advantage of every chance he gets. I would categorize Cadel as a stronger and better GC rider than Valverde but I think the chances are higher of Valverde winning a GT (disregarding any foul play).

 

[Avoriaz]

I think people are unduly harsh on Cadel, and this is becoming somewhat of a sport.

When I see Cadel Evans I see a rider who came to the sport (from MTB) as a great talent, but not hugely skilled. It is for this reason he didn't win early in his career as he kept breaking collar bones - LA can testify as to how easy this is to happen.

Secondly, he has never really had a solid team behind him. Not at T-Mobile and certainly not at Lotto, where he has never had the support in the high mountains. Infuriatingtly when Popovych was brought in to help he decided to have several off seasons.

Thirdly, this will have impacted his confidence, as will the constant isolation in the Tour last year and the tactics used by CSC (successfully) against him.

Fourthly, I get the impression that - of all the top riders - he is the most likely to ride clean. Hugely frustrating for him.

It's not that he is happy to come second. Or that he never attacks. Probably it is because he is riding at his limit.

 

[Anonymous]

Fourthly, I get the impression that - of all the top riders - he is the most likely to ride clean.

trouble is.. many get the impression that because he wasnt won a major tour or competition he is most likely clean..

as soon as (and its unlikely) he wins a tour, people will immediately question how he has improved so quickly and assume he has doped...

 

[jaylew]

I know he has some great wins in his career, but it sure seems like Davide Rebellin has finished 2nd and 3rd a bunch in the last few years.

 

[ingsve]

I know he has some great wins in his career, but it sure seems like Davide Rebellin has finished 2nd and 3rd a bunch in the last few years.

He's getting old...Simple as that...he turns 38 this year...

 

[jaylew]

He's getting old...Simple as that...he turns 38 this year...

Yeah, he continues to amaze me. I keep expecting him to have a dramatic drop off, but he's Mr. consistency: Seemingly 2nd-4th place at virtually every race he targets.

 

[James Jordan]

I don't think Evans is the primary problem, its the lack of an effective team around him to provide support. Just look at last years tour when he fell, it took forever for his team to get around him and support him. You never failed to see Armstrong, Sastra or any of the other main contenders not being surounded by the team.

Grand Tours are won by individuals on the stage, but get their via the team. This unfortunately rights him off again this year.

Rogers will have some problems with the sharing of the load with Cav, but hopefully a balance can be found.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think Evans is the primary problem, its the lack of an effective team around him to provide support.

is that just bad management, or a lack of faith in his ability as a team leader...

say what you want about lance, but JB did a great job in building a team around him that would help him win the tours because he had a belief he could win, csc to a lesser extend had a team built around the tour (although more individuals so not quite the same).. columbia have done a great job of building teams effectively around one rider depending on the race.. If cadel doesnt have the team around him isnt that down to team management not having complete faith that he is in fact the man for the job..

cmon.. when they signed charlie wegelius it was heralded in the press that he was the man that would help cadel be a contender.. charlies a decent rider, but he aint no george hincapie.. (ok.. lang and gilbert as well..)

 

[BikeCentric]

I think that Evans is a very good rider - he is very consistent in both climbing stages and time trials. He rarely ever gets dropped. The only thing that he lacks is an explosive attack, and maybe only the mental strength to attack? That is the only reason he doesn't win more IMHO, he is usually only following wheels on the mountain stages and never the aggressor. But to his credit, he is usually following the wheels of some of the best climbers in the world and again, rarely gets dropped, so good on him.

 

[ingsve]

I don't think the problem is mental strength at all. I'm sure Cadel is very aware of his strengths and weaknesses just as I'm sure all the top guys in the mountains are. Knowing that Cadel isn't the explosive type of rider, attacking would be the worst situaton in the world for him most of the time.

Attacking when you don't have the kick to get those initial meters means the group you're with will follow you with ease only to counter attack right away. Now he's suddenly put himself in a situation where an opponent has put in an attack and he has just wasted alot of strength going on a futile attack.

I think the fact that Cadel does ride so passively and don't go attacking when it's clear he shouldn't shows that he's a very intelligent rider.

 

[mr. tibbs]

I think Evans is an amazing cyclist. I don't care for his personality much, but when it comes to year-long consistency, he is hard to beat.

He stays strong all year and places high in GTs without much help. Evans deserves mad respect for his abillities, and he has mine.

But I still think he's kind of unsavory, personality-wise, and that makes me loathe to cheer for him. Sorry...

 

[James Jordan]

I think Evans is an amazing cyclist. I don't care for his personality much, but when it comes to year-long consistency, he is hard to beat.

He stays strong all year and places high in GTs without much help. Evans deserves mad respect for his abillities, and he has mine.

But I still think he's kind of unsavory, personality-wise, and that makes me loathe to cheer for him. Sorry...

Having met the guy he was actually quite nice and cheerful. Personally i think the pressure, and lack of team support, really ran him down last year. I know when I am tired I am not at my best so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[BroDeal]

Having met the guy he was actually quite nice and cheerful. Personally i think the pressure, and lack of team support, really ran him down last year. I know when I am tired I am not at my best so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt.

That is what it seemed to be to me: The pressure. He did not appear to handle it well. Of course he might have been more seriously banged up than he let on.

 

[hulkgogan]

His team last year was awful, and ain't much better this year. I don't know what his contract situation was last year, but he should have told Lotto to go fux themselves for what they gave him and not resigning Horner. Could you imagine any other big GT rider not getting their favoured lieutenant and standing for it?

 

[Argon Man]

I think people need to give him a bit of a break on the personality side too, yes he had a few flair ups at the tour but they were blown massively out of proportion, I mean he nearly busted his collarbone again and people were trying to grab him by the arm.. I would have done more than told good old Tomalaris where to go. He was a bit rough on the guys about his dog, but come on.
I have had the privalage of having had a couple of functions and riding with Cadel at the local bunch ride in summer and you could not find a nicer guy. He borders on being too nice, not to mention the charities he supports without want of publicity. How often can you walk up to any superstar in International sport and have a casual chat about common interests and get your yellow jersy replica signed!