Cadel's destintation...

[luckyboy]

Out of these teams, who's spot will BMC take?
AG2R, Astana, Bbox, Caisse, Cofidis, Columbia, Euskaltel, Francaise, Servetto, Lampre, Liquigas, Milram, Quick Step, Rabobank, Saxo Bank, Silence-Lotto, RadioShack, Sky, Garmin, Katusha & Cervelo

As if that isn't obvious..

 

[Ferminal]

Looks like I'm wrong!

"We're guaranteed a start in the Tour of Italy, and then it's up to us to prove that we shouldn't be left out of the Tour de France," said Evans.

No me me me!?

Good news though as to me that sounds like Evans in Italy!

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

to be fair, we all want to win the tour, but theres a cat in hells chance of it ever happening..

Even if we look at the 1979 Tour, which had a whopping 310km of TT distances spread out over five stages (plus a prologue), I don't see it either.

Of note: 1979 did have a few tough mountain stages as well; going up Alpe d'Huez twice. Plus it raced over pavé to Roubaix. And in case anyone is curious, Hinault won by 13 minutes over Zoetemelk, and an astounding 26 minutes over Joaquim Agostinho in third. So, you can see why perhaps when people talk about a modern GT being epic/brutal/insane I often scoff.

 

[gregod]

so who you work for? BMC? CE? both?

Maybe Blackcat is Cadel Evans. Before the news was up about Evans going to BMC he said some remarkably similar things as to what Evans said in the press release.

 

[BroDeal]

Maybe Blackcat is Cadel Evans. Before the news was up about Evans going to BMC he said some remarkably similar things as to what Evans said in the press release.

I can confirm that. I talk to him a lot by PM. It is the reason why he disappears and does not post for stretches of time; he is busy racing or doing a hard training block and does not want to bother with posting.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Because the secret it now out, I might as well confirm that BroDeal is none other than Lance Armstrong.

But you all knew that already, right?

 

[Anonymous]

The way i see this whole move to BMC saga is:

Cadel sees the chance to get a team built around him for the Tour de France. I think Evans himself will probably see this as a work in progress with his best shot at the tour being in 2011 or 12 when they will hopefully have a stack of other big names on the team and also the possibility of being a ProTour team.

......

I guess what i'm saying is Cadel is not just looking at next season but the whole 3 years he is contracted to BMC for and is building around that

I think you're spot on with your assessment here, The Unbeaten..

As a Cadel fan, the more I think about it the situation comes down to the fact that he signed for 3 years. One year to help build a tour squad, and then 2 years to have a real crack at winning it. This is a smart move in my opinion. Adding to this building philosophy, I think he should ride the Giro now. Since the CN article says they have already been invited (or are very likely to be), it would be a good test for Cadel to get some of the young swiss and american riders through a GT, and then boulster the squad with the experienced guys for the Tour (assuming an invite there too)

Whilst I have to admit, the roster looked better on Lotto, I think it has become clear that the belgian politics surrounding race programs and leadership the past 2 years has rightly frustrated Evans, and Rominger has found a useful team that is more suited to his ambitions and attitude toward life.

I'm starting to see more and more positives (aspects, not tests) come out of this move. The squad is young, but now has 5-6 experienced riders. The experienced riders, assuming they make up the tour team, will be helpful enough for Cadel. As I had said in about page 5, at the end of the day/stage the Tour is an individual effort. You still need to race the TTs and haul your body over the mountains. Yes a team of spanish climbers may help, but they can't pedal for you. I think Cadel did better when there is less pressure (i.e. Predictor 2007) and a relaxed under-dog approach to the Tour will suit him

I'm very interested to see how the next 3 years play out for Cadel. I think short-term, yes he took a step down, but honestly, I think 2011/12 BMC will be better than 2011/12 Omega-Lotto in terms of GC ambitions at the GTs

 

[franciep10]

This has been far from a hasty decision, it has been several months in the making. He is happy with the decision and what the future holds.

weren't you saying earlier in this thread that there's no way that cadel goes to bmc, and acting like you already new the decision, im not sure maybe it was somebody with the same avatar

 

[gregod]

on Blackcat being Cadel Evans...

I can confirm that. ...

Because the secret it now out, I might as well confirm that BroDeal is none other than Lance Armstrong. ...

One or both of you is pulling our legs, no?

 

[BroDeal]

on Blackcat being Cadel Evans...

One or both of you is pulling our legs, no?

I would give you more info, but Blackcat might cut my head off if I did.

 

[craig1985]

i know, but they are the colours of my afl team so i don't mind it.

Dire (for the none Australians, Collingwood is the team we love to hate. Think Manchester United or the NY Yankees, except they are not as successful. Well except at choking in big matches..

According to Evans, it seemed like this move was always on the cards:

Evans told Cyclingnews that the move to BMC Racing, “had been in the works for a while – well before the world championships. We just wanted to do everything correctly, within the rules in terms of confidentiality and so on.

“When the idea [of moving to BMC Racing] first occurred to me I thought, ‘It’s BMC, not a big team or anything’; and of course when I’m making a decision like this I do a fair bit of research,” said Evans. “Then we looked at the names in the team, the plans they have plus where they want to go – everybody [in the team] wants to go to the Tour de France in 2011.

“At that point Andy Rihs and John Lelangue said, ‘Maybe you’d be interested in going to the Tour in 2010…’ and I thought, ‘Oh…’ We had a couple of meetings and it was amazing how everything was in place and ready to go,” he said. “I was just like, ‘This is just such a neat fit for me’.”

 

[craig1985]

i dunno.. astana dont get invited, shack have drug problems and get thrown out, schlecklet breaks his collarbone in duaphine, menchov gets busted for cera in the giro, sky self implode, basso skips the tour, wiggins returns to the track, frank falls off on a descent while wearing yellow, van de velde puts on three stone and devotes himself the hour record, nibali is too tired after the giro, and the french go on a unilateral strike over poor wages...

i reckon hes got a shot..

ooh.. edit: somethings just come to me.. is cadel now officially the "world chumpion"

You and I know that won't happen.

 

[Martin318is]

From the outset let me say that I am on the fence regarding Cadel. I don't think he is a leading talent or necessarily destined for greatness (mind you he is the WC this year), but I don't think he is the most hated person in cycling by a long way. That said, Its funny how so many people want to write him off for a dumb decision or for going where the money is..

Would you REALLY in the same situation as him not consider doing the same thing? He said in an interview that he feels that the team is a great fit for him and after his time at Silence I could easily accept that this was a major priority for him. Just ask Contador how much fun it is to turn up to a workplace every day where your co-workers are doing nothing to help you work towards a goal. Cadel has had a lot of that, including pre Silence days.

Yeah its true that he his going to be very hard pressed to win a GT in 2010 - if ever - but just think how much more pleasant every single remaining day of his career would potentially be compared to staying at Silence. And if it doesn't work out then at least he hasn't made a mistake financially.

I did the same thing myself this year, moving from an incredibly successful but stressful and hate-filled company to a smaller but more professional and supportive company. Although I am getting paid less, I can't explain how much happier I am going to work in the morning. and Cadel thinks he has managed to possibly achieve this and go UP in the salary side.

One thing to think about is that nobody knows what his real ambitions are. Perhaps he is talking up his Tour ambitions purely to help secure BMC some ASO races? Who knows?

For me, if he did the thing that makes him happy, then good on him.

 

[blackcat]

on Blackcat being Cadel Evans...




One or both of you is pulling our legs, no?

Brodeal was pulling your chain.

I was not. I just worked out why and where he would go. Did not need the press to tell me. The guy in the Australian paper obviously had no clue.

BMC also have Morabito, who is probably their best climber as it stands now, before Evans coming on board. The interesting thing will be when BMC buys Cancellara for 2011, and how he works with Evans. I can't see it being a happy co-leadership.

 

[ingsve]

The strange thing about the move is that Cadel is 32 years old which is not the age where he should be thinking 2-3 years ahead. For each following year his overall chances will go down slightly simply because of age so the most logical thing for him to do would have been to find a team with good support in 2010 and not just take the year for what it is and wait to get a better situation in 2011 or 2012.

Perhaps it's not a huge problem but it's certainly not the best situation for him. That's also why not many people thought he was going to BMC. It's simply not the best option for him for 2010.

 

[powderpuff]

weren't you saying earlier in this thread that there's no way that cadel goes to bmc, and acting like you already new the decision, im not sure maybe it was somebody with the same avatar

Never said he wasn't going to BMC; show me the post; I said no to garmin and sky or italy or spain and not another belgian team. I knew all along but you won't believe that either.

 

[Cerberus]

The way i see this whole move to BMC saga is:

Cadel sees the chance to get a team built around him for the Tour de France. I think Evans himself will probably see this as a work in progress with his best shot at the tour being in 2011 or 12 when they will hopefully have a stack of other big names on the team and also the possibility of being a ProTour team.

I think he realizes that this is a way to get himself a 'shack like team' but just not owned by himself. If this is the way he is thinking i hope he realizes that 2010 probably will not amount to that much (they may not even get a tour invite) and he and BMC probably may just want to cash in the Rainbow jersey all of the 2010 season with the thought of coming back with a bigger and stronger 2011 team to have a go at the Tdf when there will most likely be no LA, AC will think he has it in the bag (as by then he will already have 3 tdf, 1 giro and 1 or 2 vueltas) LL will try to lead Retirement shack (with AK) whilst all sponsors are pulling out cos LA retired again, so the field will not be as good and he'll only have to watch out for the young whippersnappers. ie. Gesink, nibali etc.

I guess what i'm saying is Cadel is not just looking at next season but the whole 3 years he is contracted to BMC for and is building around that

You're an LA fanboy aren't you? Pretending that Armstrong is Cadels primary challenger for anything, but the third spot on the podium, while ignoring AS, smells fairly LA fan-boyish. If anything the 2011 field will be stronger than the 2010 one because the "young whippersnappers" like AS, Nibali, Contador will be older. LA's re-retirement won't make much a difference. Credit where it's due, LA rode impressively for someone approaching 38 but he was never seriously in contention for the win and he's unlikely to be in contention in 2010 either. Bear in mind that Evans is getting past his prime as well.

 

[gregod]

Brodeal was pulling your chain.

I was not. I just worked out why and where he would go. Did not need the press to tell me. The guy in the Australian paper obviously had no clue.

BMC also have Morabito, who is probably their best climber as it stands now, before Evans coming on board. The interesting thing will be when BMC buys Cancellara for 2011, and how he works with Evans. I can't see it being a happy co-leadership.

Well done.

As for co-leadership with Cancellara; it is possible that it could work out well as long as Cancellara doesn't maintain any ambition for the overall in the Tour de France. Having Cancellara in yellow in the first week could be good for the team and keeps the pressure off of Evans.

Furthermore, Gilbert, the other leader at Silence, seemed to be genuinely disappointed with Evans departure.

However, I do allow for the possibility that any co-leadership at BMC with Evans could turn to shit.

 

[El Imbatido]

You're an LA fanboy aren't you? Pretending that Armstrong is Cadels primary challenger for anything, but the third spot on the podium, while ignoring AS, smells fairly LA fan-boyish. If anything the 2011 field will be stronger than the 2010 one because the "young whippersnappers" like AS, Nibali, Contador will be older. LA's re-retirement won't make much a difference. Credit where it's due, LA rode impressively for someone approaching 38 but he was never seriously in contention for the win and he's unlikely to be in contention in 2010 either. Bear in mind that Evans is getting past his prime as well.

Once upon a time when i was a july only cycling watcher i was a LA fan, but if you have read some of my posts in other topics (albeit i don't post that much in the clinic) you will know i have quite a dislike LA (i probably wouldn't go as far as hate, but i believe he did dope). I have classed AS in with the whippersnappers. The way i was thinking was that it may not be as strong if:

a. Nibali, Kruezinger, Basso, Pellozotti are still on the same team.
b. Gesink and Menchov are on the same team
c. I was suggesting AC might be getting a bit cocky by then with the amount of GT wins he will have.
d. EBH, Lokvist and Jurgen Van de Breakaway will need to do alot of maturing in the next year or so if they are gonna lead their teams.
e. LL and AK will possibly only get one crack at it before the team folds or they retire.

I guess my whole theory is built on what-ifs but i still think Cadel knows he has traded down in the short-term but possibly up in the long-term. I used the shack like simile as to liken Cadels set-up to the one LA has ie. Built around himself

 

[swuzzlebubble]

As for co-leadership with Cancellara; it is possible that it could work out well as long as Cancellara doesn't maintain any ambition for the overall in the Tour de France. Having Cancellara in yellow in the first week could be good for the team and keeps the pressure off of Evans.

Furthermore, Gilbert, the other leader at Silence, seemed to be genuinely disappointed with Evans departure.

However, I do allow for the possibility that any co-leadership at BMC with Evans could turn to shit.

I reckon another GC contender/pretender is what Cadel needs on his team so as to offer some tactical options. Doubt Cadel would see Cancellara as a GC threat anyway.

 

[Cerberus]

Once upon a time when i was a july only cycling watcher i was a LA fan, but if you have read some of my posts in other topics (albeit i don't post that much in the clinic) you will know i have quite a dislike LA (i probably wouldn't go as far as hate, but i believe he did dope). I have classed AS in with the whippersnappers. The way i was thinking was that it may not be as strong if:

OK, my mistake. I think you overemphasized the significance of LA, but I guess I misinterpreted based on that.

a. Nibali, Kruezinger, Basso, Pellozotti are still on the same team.
b. Gesink and Menchov are on the same team
c. I was suggesting AC might be getting a bit cocky by then with the amount of GT wins he will have.
d. EBH, Lokvist and Jurgen Van de Breakaway will need to do alot of maturing in the next year or so if they are gonna lead their teams.
e. LL and AK will possibly only get one crack at it before the team folds or they retire.

I guess my whole theory is built on what-ifs but i still think Cadel knows he has traded down in the short-term but possibly up in the long-term. I used the shack like simile as to liken Cadels set-up to the one LA has ie. Built around himself

As you admit yourself that's an impressive list of what-ifs. Particularly that AC will be getting cocky to the point of not preparing properly or doing something stupid. Still even if every one of your if's bear out that would still leave Andy Schleck as the favorite significantly ahead of Evans. If he's still on Saxo Bank he probably has a significantly stronger team, he'll have matured and he has no challenger for leadership. Evans winning the tour ever again is a huge long shot, any year, but I think 2010 is the shortest longshot.

 

[rata de sentina]

Because the secret it now out, I might as well confirm that BroDeal is none other than Lance Armstrong.

If this is true then I think we can all agree that BroDeal is the ideal internet manifestation of self-loathing.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I bet Vacansoleil and Skil are really pleased by BMC's signing and shift of onus.

Cash for queue jumping.

 

[Henrik]

Yes, the Feillu brothers might just be the biggest losers in this transfer

 

[Spare Tyre]

My mind is still boggled trying to imagine Big George Hincapie laying his all on the line for Cadel Evans.