Evans

[Andre.J]

In my opinion, if Evans keeps sucking wheels as he has all his life, he may be in danger of not winning the Giro. A stage win or 2 is not going to bring him to the top spot unless he decides to attack on his own sooner or later. The longer he waits the more Basso and Nibali and others can ride back and become a threat for the overall.

Andre

 

[Moondance]

Well, in his defense I think he just wasn't capable of attacking today. He's had to work really hard the last week, especially yesterday when he dragged himself out of a ditch and went on to win the stage in horrible conditions. I wouldn't begrudge him one day of sucking wheels on a difficult stage. He didn't look great today on the climb at all, and if it had been a one-on-one battle uphill between him and Scarponi he would've probably lost a fair bit of time... But fortunately that's not how stages work.

He has ground to make up on Vino, but either way I don't think that today's stage was the best time to try to anyway. He's still got two weeks and most of the difficult stages left to try, give him a chance to prove himself at least.

 

[BroDeal]

In my opinion, if Evans keeps sucking wheels as he has all his life, he may be in danger of not winning the Giro. A stage win or 2 is not going to bring him to the top spot unless he decides to attack on his own sooner or later. The longer he waits the more Basso and Nibali and others can ride back and become a threat for the overall.

Andre

This post would have been more appropriate before Saturday...and maybe before last October.

Evans killed it yesterday. He earned major props--even if he does sound like a cartoon character.

 

[ak-zaaf]

In my opinion, if Evans keeps sucking wheels as he has all his life, he may be in danger of not winning the Giro. A stage win or 2 is not going to bring him to the top spot unless he decides to attack on his own sooner or later. The longer he waits the more Basso and Nibali and others can ride back and become a threat for the overall.

Andre

Vino will lose minutes on the steeper climbs and Basso isn't ET anymore.
Nibali didn't prepare for this race, but I think he's the only real threat to Evans.
Evans might suffer from having no team in the mountains, but I think Phonak and Caisse were always good friends and now Bruseghin is out he might have that.

In short: if Evans doesn't win this, he'll never win a GT.

 

[Wallace]

In my opinion, if Evans keeps sucking wheels as he has all his life, he may be in danger of not winning the Giro. A stage win or 2 is not going to bring him to the top spot unless he decides to attack on his own sooner or later. The longer he waits the more Basso and Nibali and others can ride back and become a threat for the overall.

Andre

What do you want Evans to be, Superman? He barely has a team to protect him, and his major adversaries, Vino and Basso/Nibbles (I love that nickname) are all backed by infinitely superior squads. You want Evans to be Merckx and ride the entire peloton off his wheel, stage after stage? Even Eddy had to have team to enable him to do that. And Evans did ride everyone off his wheel yesterday.

The whole Evans/wheelsucker thing is dead now. So much so that--hey, wait a minute--I just got trolled!

 

[Christian]

In my opinion, if Evans keeps sucking wheels as he has all his life, he may be in danger of not winning the Giro. A stage win or 2 is not going to bring him to the top spot unless he decides to attack on his own sooner or later. The longer he waits the more Basso and Nibali and others can ride back and become a threat for the overall.

Andre

One of the funniest (or saddest) stages ever was the one in last year's Dauphiné where Cadel attacked without pause and Valverde and Contador just sat back and followed his wheel. So I think we definitely have to give him credit for that, even if it didn't work out!

Vino will lose minutes on the steeper climbs

Hm I'm not so sure about that ... in my opinion Vino is a better and more explosive climber than Evans. Unless he has a pretty bad day I could not see Evans dropping him on a climb and gaining over 30 seconds.
But at the same time we haven't seen Vino in any really tough mountain stage for a while so we can't really know whee he's at. He's been looking really good so far though.

 

[pedaling squares]

Evans has answered his critics and he's become far more interesting to watch. The guy is now a winner. 'nuff said.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Vino will lose minutes on the steeper climbs and Basso isn't ET anymore.
Nibali didn't prepare for this race, but I think he's the only real threat to Evans.
Evans might suffer from having no team in the mountains, but I think Phonak and Caisse were always good friends and now Bruseghin is out he might have that.

In short: if Evans doesn't win this, he'll never win a GT.

You nailed it regarding Vino, Nibali and Basso.

The first week of this Giro has been a war of attrition - Sastre, Pozzovivo, Wiggins, Bruseghin are all out of the fight for the GC.

To the OP - you must have missed last years Dauphine, Tour and WC.

If needed Cadel can put in an attack, however for this Giro Cadel does not need to attack, he needs to be patient as others will crack long before he will.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

yep. that whole line on evans is played(i never was a fan of it anyway). folks are still on autopilot though i think. the guy is barely recovered from a monster effort yesterday and days before, climbing a hill that's not steep enough to really matter, without a team to carry him through. his job today was to survive, cover attacks and finish with the gc contenders. he did that.

 

[Galic Ho]

In my opinion, if Evans keeps sucking wheels as he has all his life, he may be in danger of not winning the Giro. A stage win or 2 is not going to bring him to the top spot unless he decides to attack on his own sooner or later. The longer he waits the more Basso and Nibali and others can ride back and become a threat for the overall.

Andre

Can you cut him some slack? BMC are next to useless other than fetching water bottles and food. He lost the Maglia Rosa and single handedly almost bridged the gap back to the peloton lead group with a huge number of wheel suckers. Note Wigans was near him and Cadel dropped him. Impressive.

Next time a crash looked like damaging his race he did pull the time back. Then he won the stage. Vino has said for two consecutive days that Cadel is the strongest rider in the race. He is and has to wait till the race nears its end to make his move. His team cannot defend Pink for 13 days.

Basso just made a comment about stage 7. Looks like he was pulling evenly with Nibali. Their overall team strength is good but it still seems logical that Basso is the main rider. Cadel definitely has Basso's number. Ask their joint coach Sassi. Evans has stepped up a notch this year. Cadel and Vino have to play it smart and just mark one another and Liquigas. Sastre now says he cannot win but hopes to make the podium if he gets lucky in the third week/ The only other riders who look capable of busting a move are Cunego and Scarponi. Vino and Evans can afford to let them go because they have a nice margin.

 

[isayic]

In my opinion, if Evans keeps sucking wheels as he has all his life, he may be in danger of not winning the Giro. A stage win or 2 is not going to bring him to the top spot unless he decides to attack on his own sooner or later. The longer he waits the more Basso and Nibali and others can ride back and become a threat for the overall.

Andre

Grown people can't change. Evans will stay Evans. And at least on paper Vino has the better team. This is evident when you check the team classification. And when Vino says that he fears Evans I think it's tactics.
And Basso isn't the brightest rider and I'm almost sure that he didn't say the truth when he "confessed" that he intended to dope. When he won the Giro 2006 he rode different. He even won a time trial and he isn't a good time trialist.

 

[Galic Ho]

You nailed it regarding Vino, Nibali and Basso.

The first week of this Giro has been a war of attrition - Sastre, Pozzovivo, Wiggins, Bruseghin are all out of the fight for the GC.

To the OP - you must have missed last years Dauphine, Tour and WC.

If needed Cadel can put in an attack, however for this Giro Cadel does not need to attack, he needs to be patient as others will crack long before he will.

Dude I dislike him but even I don't have the gall or audacity to hold Wigans to a standard of racing in a GT when he isn't there for that. Wigans aim was the prologue and TTT. The rest is training. Brad was excused from GC talk for the Giro before it even began.

 

[xmoonx]

I am NO great fan of CE, but dang he's riding the perfect race and to be second on GC is incredible. Neither Basso nor Nibali (w arguably the strongest team), Cunego, Gerdermann, Garzelli, Scarponi, Sastre or any of the potential GC'ers could launch an attack and make it stick; those guys are spent. Furthermore if anyone should have launched an attack it should have been Vino (if past performance is any indication of 2010), he's not especially great in the high mountains, but I am sure he's wiped out too and couldn't.

"Near the finish I carefully controlled Evans and everything worked out okay. Yesterday I realised that he was the strongest, so today I just watched him. He's the one that I fear the most." And why is that?. Because Vino knows that CE can and did hang with him in those sections where he can put time on others. The reverse may NOT be true when CE gets in the steeps and CE can TT too.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Dude I dislike him but even I don't have the gall or audacity to hold Wigans to a standard of racing in a GT when he isn't there for that. Wigans aim was the prologue and TTT. The rest is training. Brad was excused from GC talk for the Giro before it even began.

Meh - I largely agree with your point, but Wiggins did say just prior to the race he would try and stay in contention for as long as possible.

I would not have expected him to be in the final shakeup - but any ambitions were over before he left Holland.

 

[santacruz]

Cadel knows there is a good chance Vino will be popped in the months to come, and so his 2nd place will be moved up to 1st... I mean, he must be thinking this from the moment Vino had a lead over him.. don't wear yourself out chasing the man with the magic in his veins, just ride for 2nd and give it a few months and it'll all work out right. That's what I would do anyhoo...

 

[Galic Ho]

Grown people can't change. Evans will stay Evans. And at least on paper Vino has the better team. This is evident when you check the team classification. And when Vino says that he fears Evans I think it's tactics.
And Basso isn't the brightest rider and I'm almost sure that he didn't say the truth when he "confessed" that he intended to dope. When he won the Giro 2006 he rode different. He even won a time trial and he isn't a good time trialist.

The funny thing when it comes down to race dynamics and rider strength is that Vino and Basso have always been pretty much spot on and honest as any other rider. Vino has said at the end of the last two stages that Cadel Evans is the strongest rider so far this Giro. He was being honest and humble in that admission. Vino looked ******ed after stage 7. He stated he tried to win several times and each attack he was pulled back by Cadel.

Basso also has spoken about stage 7 and 8. Read the news articles on this site. He said Nibali and himself worked together to limit the time loss on stage 7 and are prepared to sacrifice their GC ambitions for whomever is strongest. For a not too bright rider, having the brains to limit the additional loss of 30 seconds on top of the 1:30 from the crash that took Nibali and himself out, by teaming up with his younger squad member is a masterstroke.

 

[Galic Ho]

Meh - I largely agree with your point, but Wiggins did say just prior to the race he would try and stay in contention for as long as possible.

I would not have expected him to be in the final shakeup - but any ambitions were over before he left Holland.

Yep, after Holland it was all gone. Odd how his own team took him out. He'd have had pink till at least stage 7 if it weren't for that crash and then could have just sat back and used the rest of the race as training. Seems to be a recurring theme this week. First multiple Giro crashes and now California. Even on wide roads the crashes keep happening. It really is one of those weeks.

 

[erader]

In my opinion, if Evans keeps sucking wheels as he has all his life, he may be in danger of not winning the Giro. A stage win or 2 is not going to bring him to the top spot unless he decides to attack on his own sooner or later. The longer he waits the more Basso and Nibali and others can ride back and become a threat for the overall.

Andre

evans did attack when he won the giro stage and when he won la fleche wallone. i'd say at this point cuddles deserves the benefit of the doubt.

ed rader

 

[the vagabond]

In the last eight months Evans has won the world championship, Liege, and Stage 7 of the Giro, and has been a factor in almost every race he's been in. The only guys that can touch him in that category are Cancellara and Gilbert. And they have teams and don't compete for GC in GTs.

Evans keeps getting better and despite now getting grudging respect is actually just as underrated if not more so than he was previously.

 

[cyclopeon]

Grown people can't change.

Untrue, IMO. But it takes effort to improve in character or behavior, and it is generally too hard to bother. On the other hand it is easy for grown people to slide into poorer character or behaviors, and many do.

 

[simonkennaugh]

Cadel

I agree with BroDeal... if you had said this a year ago I would have had to sadly agree but Cadel has produced a lot of rides in the last year that show he is really becoming a great rider who knows how (and when) to attack. The world champs and previous stages are obvious examples. In stage 7 he wasn't the one to attack when Nibali went down but he made the move and did the work to bridge across, leading out at the end was the smart thing to do in those conditions for someone focussing on the GC but then he smashed them in the sprint... Great gutsy ride! Also look at his gutsy ride to limit his losses with no team last week (again Vino trying to benefit from a rival crashing). Sastre etc were know-where to be seen in the chase and happy just to sit in and suck off Cadel.. he's a quirky cyclist but one to be respected and for us aussies to be proud of.

 

[spanky wanderlust]

In the last eight months Evans has won the world championship, Liege, and Stage 7 of the Giro, and has been a factor in almost every race he's been in. The only guys that can touch him in that category are Cancellara and Gilbert. And they have teams and don't compete for GC in GTs.

Evans keeps getting better and despite now getting grudging respect is actually just as underrated if not more so than he was previously.

Fleche, actually. But your point is still valid. Vino won LBL. and, it was only an untimely flat on a mountaintop finish that shattered cadel's vuelta hopes.

i never really understood why cadel is so disrespected by some on this forum. yesterday should have reminded all that he is a total badass and the strongest in this race right now.

as to the op, i think terminillo would have been more of a battleground, but the efforts in holland, and yesterday pretty much neutered it. except for a few attacks, the gc guys seemed happy with a final small selection. i don't see how basso, nibali etc. are catching up if they all finish on the same time.

 

[timmers]

i never really understood why cadel is so disrespected by some on this forum. yesterday should have reminded all that he is a total badass and the strongest in this race right now.

There is a difference between disrespected and respected. I think that like me many feel that in the past Cadel broke the unwritten rules of cycling: outsprinting Armstrong for 4th? on a stage in the Tour, wheelsucking and complaining about his team in a eunuch's voice.

He now has an opportunity to win a Grand Tour. Has he got the ability to do that without a team to support him? Has he built allegiances with other teams to help him out? I used to like the guy when he raced MTB and saw him race a WC and win in NZ in 98? But he needs to sort the voice out!

 

[auscyclefan94]

I don't think that Vino, garzelli or scarponi (if they had good or reasonable legs), took advantage of evans as he looked like he was going to crack at one point there. The climb didn't suit him and he didn't seem near his best.

 

[auscyclefan94]

One of the funniest (or saddest) stages ever was the one in last year's Dauphiné where Cadel attacked without pause and Valverde and Contador just sat back and followed his wheel. So I think we definitely have to give him credit for that, even if it didn't work out!



Hm I'm not so sure about that ... in my opinion Vino is a better and more explosive climber than Evans. Unless he has a pretty bad day I could not see Evans dropping him on a climb and gaining over 30 seconds.
But at the same time we haven't seen Vino in any really tough mountain stage for a while so we can't really know whee he's at. He's been looking really good so far though.

-1
I disagree. Vino only looks explosive when the gradient is not too steep. Even then I don't think he is more explosive than evans. With the dauphine, when he attacked, his moves where not calculated as he tried to do 15, 20 attacks when he should of tried to make 3 or 4 big ones. Valverde was on the edge near the top.