Evans is a winner, just the big one is f***ing hard

[tidean]

Quoted from cn's report on the race.

"Evans had only raced for two days before Tirreno-Adriatico but won with a combination of strong and intelligent racing, backed up by a solid BMC team that included Alessandro Ballan and an on-form George Hincapie"

He can win the tour but it is very, very f***ing hard, look at the list of winners, then look at the list of dopers & see how hard it is for clean guys like Cadel.

 

[Ildabaoth]

As opposed to 2nd places in Le Tour and 3rd place in La Vuelta, which is totally doable being clean because evidently only the 1st place riders dope.

 

[tidean]

Yeah I think it goes deeper than that, in the past it was (probably) hard to get team support if a rider was not on it. Look at the years of big Jan, he got huge team support, but I bet if he turned to his then team manager & said "I am going the clean way he would have been laughed out of the team leaders contention"

 

[kurtinsc]

Yeah I think it goes deeper than that, in the past it was (probably) hard to get team support if a rider was not on it. Look at the years of big Jan, he got huge team support, but I bet if he turned to his then team manager & said "I am going the clean way he would have been laughed out of the team leaders contention"

This isn't the clinic... but have you thought there's another much simpler explanation for why Evans has been able to compete with dopers in the past?

 

[BroDeal]

This isn't the clinic... but have you thought there's another much simpler explanation for why Evans has been able to compete with dopers in the past?

He needs a better doctor?

Evans is someone who would have greatly benefited from choosing attainable goals and peaking for them. He had his shot at the Tour in 2007 and 2008. It won't come again. He could have won the 2008 TdF if he had chosen a better team. Evans has George Hincapie syndrome. He is unable and unwilling to place himself on a team that can help him win.

He could have won the Giro last year if he had quietly built his form during the Spring instead of tiring himself out.

I think it is ridiculous that Menchov has a Giro win and one (and half) Vuelta wins while Evans has zero GTs. The guy is obviously doin' it wrong.

 

[tidean]

Nah you're wrong, the other two tours are 2nd place he wants the big podium step. Unless you can "buy" a team you cannot just place yourself on a team, Jan did it by being german, Lance by being American. There has been no big Australian sponser to fund an Aussie "hero".
He can make the leap from 2nd place in the only tour that gets you remembered in a non cycling country like Australia, or in the world outside cycling for that matter. And i reckon that is a big leap from 2nd to 1st in the TDF.
He has not got many shots left but he will do it, the peloton is getting cleaner & he has a good team, maybe not great but good. Most tour winners need a bit of luck in the 3 weeks.
He has the determination, experience (he's been winning world class races for 20 years) & he has a good enough team. A couple of good rolls of the dice & he will be standing on the top step in Paris.

 

[Francois the Postman]

The original post framed the thread in a doping context. Thread moved to the Clinic, the only place where we allow the doping discussions.

 

[D-Queued]

Quoted from cn's report on the race.

"Evans had only raced for two days before Tirreno-Adriatico but won with a combination of strong and intelligent racing, backed up by a solid BMC team that included Alessandro Ballan and an on-form George Hincapie"

He can win the tour but it is very, very f***ing hard, look at the list of winners, then look at the list of dopers & see how hard it is for clean guys like Cadel.

I can sense a miracle in the works.

Dave.

 

[tidean]

I can sense a miracle in the works.

Dave.

If a World Champion & a second place getter in the biggest bike race on the planet needs a miracle to win it then he will join all the past saints of the yellow jersey in Paris this year & praise the lord.

 

[rhubroma]

He needs a better doctor?

Evans is someone who would have greatly benefited from choosing attainable goals and peaking for them. He had his shot at the Tour in 2007 and 2008. It won't come again. He could have won the 2008 TdF if he had chosen a better team. Evans has George Hincapie syndrome. He is unable and unwilling to place himself on a team that can help him win.

He could have won the Giro last year if he had quietly built his form during the Spring instead of tiring himself out.

I think it is ridiculous that Menchov has a Giro win and one (and half) Vuelta wins while Evans has zero GTs. The guy is obviously doin' it wrong.

He lost the Tour to Sastre, that says it all.

 

[Ferminal]

If he's clean then he should be setting more realistic targets, like Cunego. Unfortunately his team doesn't have anyone else to lead them in the Tour so that needs to be his focus for this year and probably next year. Maybe he will end up like Sastre, riding every GT without excelling at any of them. The difference is that Evans is a world class one-day rider so should be focusing his attention there.

You can understand why he wants to have "one last go" at the Tour after two interrupted efforts.

 

[unsheath]

He lost the Tour to Sastre, that says it all.

He lost to Saxo. 1-2 sucker punch..

 

[Indurain]

I would like to think Caded Cuddles Evans is riding clean. What gives me a little hope that this could or use to be true was when Team Telekom left him out of the tour side. Cadel was in good form and a damn good rider. Why would they do this. They said it had something to do with him potentially breaking his collar bone on the cobbles. Lame excuse. Not even Cadel knew why.

The only explanation I can think of was that at the time Cadel wasn't a doper and they couldn't take the chance of having a non-doper on a Tour Team where all other riders were all doped to the max.

 

[42x16ss]

I'm disappointed that it's taken a rider with Evan's physical abilities to finally get a "taste for blood". If he raced the 2007 and 2008 TdF's and the 2009 Vuelta with his current attitude I'm confident he could have won all 3.

I wouldn't rush to call him clean though. Especially with the way he limited his losses to Chicken, Clentador and Bottle in '07 and still managed to tear up the TT's.

 

[movingtarget]

He lost to Saxo. 1-2 sucker punch..

He lost to the strongest team in the race by far who had three possible winners of the GC and he was recovering from a serious fall. There was no shame in losing to Sastre who up until last year had been an incredibly consistent rider in grand tours with lot's of experience. Sastre and his team rode a great race in 2008.

 

[JPM London]

Quoted from cn's report on the race.

"Evans had only raced for two days before Tirreno-Adriatico but won with a combination of strong and intelligent racing, backed up by a solid BMC team that included Alessandro Ballan and an on-form George Hincapie"

He can win the tour but it is very, very f***ing hard, look at the list of winners, then look at the list of dopers & see how hard it is for clean guys like Cadel.

So I guess from the commentators' viewpoint it's quite alright to win if only your helpers are dopers?

He lost the Tour to Sastre, that says it all.

Well, he wasn't the only rider in that Tour to lose out to Sastre - there were about 175 of them in total.

To me that's more an indication that 2008 did indeed have both a clean winner and runner up.

 

[hrotha]

People have short memories. Now that Sastre is old and kinda average they forget his impressive record up to June 2009.

 

[tidean]

I would like to think Caded Cuddles Evans is riding clean. What gives me a little hope that this could or use to be true was when Team Telekom left him out of the tour side. Cadel was in good form and a damn good rider. Why would they do this. They said it had something to do with him potentially breaking his collar bone on the cobbles. Lame excuse. Not even Cadel knew why.

The only explanation I can think of was that at the time Cadel wasn't a doper and they couldn't take the chance of having a non-doper on a Tour Team where all other riders were all doped to the max.

They proly left him out cos he would be a risk to their dope security, who were they going to room him with

 

[movingtarget]

If he's clean then he should be setting more realistic targets, like Cunego. Unfortunately his team doesn't have anyone else to lead them in the Tour so that needs to be his focus for this year and probably next year. Maybe he will end up like Sastre, riding every GT without excelling at any of them. The difference is that Evans is a world class one-day rider so should be focusing his attention there.

You can understand why he wants to have "one last go" at the Tour after two interrupted efforts.

I pretty much agree. The trouble is the sponsors also have to be catered to. Not riding the TDF or Giro would be hard. But if he is beaten fair and square this year in the TDF without crashes etc, he should target the hilly classics and then go for stage wins in the Tour, which he is very capable of winning. I would hate to see him doing top 10 or 20 finishes in two grand tours. Pretty pointless. Other teams do well without having a serious GC contender in the team.

 

[Bordercollie1]

Evans was not left out of the Telecom team because he was cleaner than anyone else. Most likely he was not happy playing second fiddle to Jan and Vino.

In terms of the teams Evans has ridden for, he has made some interesting choices for a clean rider.

Saeco (Gotti era)
Mapei (!)
Telecom (at the same time as Botero)
Lotto (the only team who would touch Eric Dekker)
BMC (basically Phonak)

Both Garmin and Sky were screaming for an English speaking GC rider and he looked the other way.

BTW, I do think Evans is one of the most natural riders in the bunch. Mountain biking is a great measure of natural power to weight ratio and VO2 max and Evans made his name there. I remember him getting on the podium in his first Grundig in 1994 (ish) aged 17.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Evans was not left out of the Telecom team because he was cleaner than anyone else. Most likely he was not happy playing second fiddle to Jan and Vino.

In terms of the teams Evans has ridden for, he has made some interesting choices for a clean rider.
Saeco (Gotti era)
Mapei (!)
Telecom (at the same time as Botero)
Lotto (the only team who would touch Eric Dekker)
BMC (basically Phonak)

Both Garmin and Sky were screaming for an English speaking GC rider and he looked the other way.

BTW, I do think Evans is one of the most natural riders in the bunch. Mountain biking is a great measure of natural power to weight ratio and VO2 max and Evans made his name there. I remember him getting on the podium in his first Grundig in 1994 (ish) aged 17.

That would apply for ANY clean rider through the 90's and 2000's.

Bassons rode for Festina, Moncoutie rode for cofidis, etc.

 

[Bordercollie1]

Quite right. Evans wants to be team leader at the Tour and so he takes a contract where he can get one. You can't read too much into it...

...but some riders have better records than others, for example Thor Hushovd rode for CA (cleanish, by reputaion at least) Cervelo (no positives ttbomk) and Garmin.

 

[rhubroma]

He lost to Saxo. 1-2 sucker punch..

Of course if he had been strong enough he'd have dropped everyone and soloed for the stage win and the Tour victory. Not that I'm holding it against hem, but sometimes that's what a rider must be able to do to win a major grand tour.

 

[yourwelcome]

Of course if he had been strong enough he'd have dropped everyone and soloed for the stage win and the Tour victory. Not that I'm holding it against hem, but sometimes that's what a rider must be able to do to win a major grand tour.

Yes, but the Ayn Rand superhuman fantasy usually is just a fantasy.

 

[rhubroma]

Yes, but the Ayn Rand superhuman fantasy usually is just a fantasy.

Even in the past the champions, because they were champions, were able to establish their dominance on some critical moment of the race, when such a show of strength was simply demanded to become the winner.

I don't believe in superhuman, though you need to come through with the goods a times or else you get second, or third place.