Cadel Evans - Whining little girl or Hyper GT Contender - Discuss

[VeloEcosse]

What do we think. Is Cadel a whining little girl or does he have the cojones to "man up" as the parlance goes and become a serious GT contender?

 

[joy118118]

You are new to here, arent you?

Soon ACF will thunder in this thread.

 

[GoGarmin]

I think you're going to find that the board's opinion has come around during the last year for a couple of reasons: 1) his grit in winning the world championships and besting Albert Contador on a hill, and 2) his own sense of humor about his temper (specifically making a t-shirt about the dog incident).

I used to be iffy on Cadel, but he's shown me a lot during the last year. I'll root for any rider who is probably clean, and I think there's been a growing realization that while he has a complicated personality Cadel is a good person. So I like him and dislike the characterization of him as a whining little girl.

Also, his past placings in the Tour suggest he is very much a bonafide grand tour contender.

 

[maltiv]

I think you're going to find that the board's opinion has come around during the last year for a couple of reasons: 1) his grit in winning the world championships and besting Albert Contador on a hill, and 2) his own sense of humor about his temper (specifically making a t-shirt about the dog incident).

I used to be iffy on Cadel, but he's shown me a lot during the last year. I'll root for any rider who is probably clean, and I think there's been a growing realization that while he has a complicated personality Cadel is a good person. So I like him and dislike the characterization of him as a whining little girl.

Also, his past placings in the Tour suggest he is very much a bonafide grand tour contender.

3) Giro d'italia stage 7.

 

[taiwan]

Sort of a funny question: would think he has already been a serious GT contender, and it might be a bit late to expect huge jumps in ability if he only 'mans up''.

...counting down to the homers' obligatory slagging match, 10...9...

 

[Roland Rat]

When does ACF wake up?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I think he's a great rider who should have a better palmarès than he has, but by focusing on the Tour, making himself difficult to work with (and being ungrateful to those efforts his team do make, even if the team weren't capable of doing much) and struggling to keep his temper, he's missed out on a lot of achievements that he perhaps should have. He may never best his 2nd at the Tour now; a mixture of bad luck and bad management have cost him other GTs. It seemed for a long time like he was afraid of failure so preferred not to take risks; this led to him being close but never pulling off the big win his talent perhaps deserved. Now he's got that monkey off his back he seems much more at ease with himself and less highly-strung; his temper within races can hold him back, and he may be past his Grand Tour peak years, but he is a contender, is a fighter, has become a much more interesting rider than he was, and should be taken very seriously by those at the business end of a Grand Tour. There's a reason he wasn't allowed in that break in the '09 Tour - nobody wants to give Evans a headstart on them, because they know he has the ability to hold it.

I will clarify - I still don't like him much, or how the Anglophone commentators suck up to him; I do think he's a whiner, or at least he certainly was a whiner. But that doesn't mean he isn't a GT contender at all, because he quite demonstrably is.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

he keeps on riding even though he broke his elbow. He most definitly is a GT contender given his placings of the last years. He should stop focussing on the Tour though, he won't win that one. Maybe he'd focus on the Vuelta next year because a GT on his palmares would surely make him look like a real big champion!

 

[GoGarmin]

3) Giro d'italia stage 7.

That too!

 

[boardhanger]

If he wants to be on the podium on the tour he needs to lose serious weight. But that would interfer with the rest of his objectives. A decent rider who came outa the back of knowwhere ( no offence aussies) in cycling terms. I question his mental strenght when things become complicated though.

 

[VeloEcosse]

You are new to here, arent you?

Soon ACF will thunder in this thread.

Just to be clear I was looking for opinions and was not looking to assasinate Evan's character. Reason being I had a rather heated discussion with a group of cycling friends who would be very much in the "I think Cadel is a whining little girl" camp.

I tended to disagree for a number of reasons:

1. He has proven he is hardcore through his world champs victory and the broken elbow mentioned earlier on this thread.

2. Yes he can be truculent buit I believe thats what makes him who he is.

3. If he has the right people willing to protect him and ride for him then I think he has a great chance. However, too often he is left on his own with no protection from attacks.

4. I do get annoyed with his inability to realise that the media can work for him and just take a leaf out of Contadors book by quoting the PR playbook time and again with the occassional attack on someone elses ability. Just enough to make them doubt themselves.

 

[pedaling squares]

See posts 3, 4, and 8. Yes, yes, and yes.

Too bad about the voice though.

 

[goonermatt]

Like many i had feck all respect for him before the worlds, but he has showed this year he has serious guts and i kinda like the fact he is a bit of a nutter. its always good to have the world champion near the front of big races, and stage 7 of the giro was the best GT stage i have seen in a while, 'epic' doesn't do it justice...

 

[EmpressJo]

Is Cadel a whining little girl or does he have the cojones to "man up" as the parlance goes and become a serious GT contender?

You're not looking for controversy, are you?

My nationality probably makes me quite biased, but I think no, he's not a whiny little girl and yes, I think he already is a serious GT contender. If he were a whiny little girl, would he have finished the TdF with a broken elbow? In anyone's language, that's gotta hurt, and to keep racing when you know your chances of even just a podium are shot suggests he's made of much sterner stuff than what whiny little girls are made of.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

he is both.

 

[ak-zaaf]

From an eternal wheelsucking #2 to an attacking winner in his 30's right after signing for a pretty dubious team.

Now let's say he was from Spain....


....And now off to ACF

 

[powderpuff]

From an eternal wheelsucking #2 to an attacking winner in his 30's right after signing for a pretty dubious team.

Now let's say he was from Spain....


....And now off to ACF

SPAIN 1 v NEDERLANDS 0

 

[maltiv]

From an eternal wheelsucking #2 to an attacking winner in his 30's right after signing for a pretty dubious team.

Now let's say he was from Spain....


....And now off to ACF

Yea, a great GT rider transforming into more of a classics specialist is really suspicious!

Or wait...It's the other way around that's suspicious

 

[ak-zaaf]

SPAIN 1 v NEDERLANDS 0

That makes me a sad panda

 

[theyoungest]

The stupidity of a thread's premise seems to be directly proportional to its eventual length. Let's see how it plays out this time.

 

[EmpressJo]

When does ACF wake up?

Might have to wait for his invective tomorrow - I'm on on the west coast and it's nearly 9.30pm - if he's on the east, then it's heading for midnight.

 

[yourwelcome]

Just to be clear I was looking for opinions and was not looking to assasinate Evan's character.

When you started off with 'whining little girl', you could have fooled me.

 

[boardhanger]

When you started off with 'whining little girl', you could have fooled me.

I think he was quoting his 'friends' statements???

 

[VeloEcosse]

When you started off with 'whining little girl', you could have fooled me.

It was the subject of the argument and I was directly quoting the phrase used in that discussion.

I don't see why this would be a problem? I am asking a genuine question as a direct result of a debate over the weekend between myself and and some other cyclists.

I value other peoples opinions even if they are not to my liking.

 

[VeloEcosse]

Goodbye

Might have to wait for his invective tomorrow - I'm on on the west coast and it's nearly 9.30pm - if he's on the east, then it's heading for midnight.

To those of you who actually responded with a salient and reasoned argument...thank you and I apologise to you in adavance of what I am about to write here.

I am not sure who ACF is but most of you seem to be afraid of whoever he/she is. Have I stumbled across a Stalinist Russian enclave where the right to free speech and expression are forbidden?

I didn't say anything libellous nor insulting. I merely asked a question. It was not a statement of fact rather a way to find out what others thought...maybe that was my mistake. Better not say anything controversial or I will get my hand slapped and sent to bed with no supper.

If you don't like other peoples opinions then join a sequestered and speech ridden monastery. Not a public forum.

Any time I have posted something here or made a comment on anothers post I have been attacked by little gangs of elitist snobs who pretend to have had an illustrious amateur cycling career whilst being insanely jealous of anyone who has any real success or the money to spend on top notch equipment. I belong to a forum that deals in reality...its called the human race. You should try it sometime.

Oh by the way......to anyone on here who thinks its funny to belittle others because of there beliefs, clothes they wear or bikes they ride...thats called bullying which is born out of spineless cowardice.

I think I will do myself a favour and leave this place to be run by snivelling little civil servants diguised as cycling enthusiasts. There is nothing enthusiatic about berating from behind a keyboard and I loathe myself for doing so now...but I am left little or no choice.

What a sad existence you people have!