42x16ss said:
Excuse me? He was up to his eyeballs. Evans was the third most consistent climber that TdF (maybe, MAYBE 4th after Soler) even with Rasmussen (backed by Menchov and co.) and the Popo/Levi/Contador 1-2-3 working him over every mountain. As part of a sprinter's team too.
Then he blew them out of the water in the TTs to boot! Over 1 minute into AC on the first and nearly 90 seconds on the second. He took 1'41 out of Rasmussen in the first TT. It took two of the most blatant topups in cycling history (Vino and Levi) to beat him.
Take away his Jour Sans on Plateau de Beille and Evans would have beaten Rasmussen as well as Contador.
I think I'll weigh in here because my recollection of 2007 (which I followed very closely) is a little different and I think your logic is flawed. IMO his riding in the 2007 TdF against AC and Rasmussen was a big reason why Evans unfairly got a wheel sucker tag by many fans which he kept until his 2009 WC win.
Escarabajo touches on the theme that Evans was not really a serious factor in the mountains in 2007. On the climbs in 2007 Evans was hanging on for dear life - watch the videos!. 3rd or 4th most consistent climber only by sucking wheels because that is all he could do. On PdB he tried following successive attacks by both AC and Chicken, finally blowing and losing 2 min in the last 5km. That is where he lost the Tour but it also isn't that suspicious on the basis how badly he blew against those guys.
As for Levi, well Levi was only close at the end because he didn't try to follow AC & Chicken on PdB and finished 60 secs ahead of Evans. Evans also couldn't follow on the next stage over the Peyresourde and lost time to all 3 (Chicken, AC and Levi).
Now in relation to Evans taking 1.41 out of Rasmussen in the 1st TT well based on prior form so he should have! Chicken was always a skinny climber not a time trialist of any note culminating in his embarrassing 2006 capitulation. Evans on the other hand won the 2002 Commonwealth Games TT ahead of Mick Rogers and leapfrogged both AC and Valverde in the final TT at the 2006 Romandie. Evans always had some pedigree in TTs, Chicken did not. Extra doping just reduced Rasmussen's disadvantage in that discipline.
What had Rasmussen done before in TTs? Nothing. And his 2007 performances - transformed from KOM specialist to serious GC contender were most likely why his team pulled him before it got totally embarrassing. As for AC, well he was only 24 in 2007. Evans was 30 and at his physiological peak.
Then how do you know Chicken and AC didn't top up until the PdB stage? And don't forget on the earlier Galibier stage Evans cracked trying to follow AC.
And what is rarely discussed is what is the natural spread of talent in the peloton without dope? Nobody knows. But you also don't know if there are some freaks who don't need to top up as much.
Now none of this means Evans didn't dope. But I think we need to be fair and have some sense of perspective knowing all the relevant facts.