# Does anyone else think Cadel Evans is.....



## xocsida (May 29, 2004)

A complete jackass? 

I read this on cycling news today, and it's the second or third time I've heard him refer to himself in the third person during an interview:

"Y'know, I had two really bad years, and a lot of people have forgotten what sort of rider I am. I always believed in myself and some people really believed in me, and I thank them for that. This is all for the people that believed in me...Marc Sergeant, my girlfriend, my family, my really good friends who have stuck by me the last two years, because it hasn't been a very good two years for me and now you're seeing the old Cadel come back."


Damn he seems like an arrogant prick. 

That and this quote "I saw an opportunity where I could take four minutes on Armstrong, so I had to go for my chance today". 

Uh..Earth to Cadel, you aren't even close to Lance, your taking four minutes on the people that are closer to you in the GC. Lance is WAY out of your league. Does this dude really think he's the same caliber of cyclist as Lance? 

Of course, I really disliked him as a mountain biking pro too...jackass.


----------



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

Nothing wrong with that quote. He was a forgotten rider and he now has renewed confidence. To come back and perform at his level when very few believed in him is truly a great achievement.

He has fought hard and impressed me and many others. He is one of the few that has made this tour exciting. I can't say enough good things about Cadel. Definitely an A+ guy and one of the tour highlights.

francois


----------



## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*another victim*

of the pink hole yes? glad he's on the comeback. he shouldn't speak to much about taking four minutes from LA. that's implying that LA actually cared about your frickin four minutes. good to be confident bad to overstep your own humility


----------



## eleven24 (Aug 10, 2004)

LOL... I took the "took four minutes from Armstrong" comment as meaning "someday when I'm old and gray with my grandkids on my lap, I can tell them about the day I beat the great Lance Armstrong by four minutes in a mountain stage".


----------



## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Lighten up, Francis.


----------



## Mel Erickson (Feb 3, 2004)

Sorry but I don't see any evidence of arrogance in that quote. Seems factual and straight forward, kinda Joe Friday. BTW, he speaks of himself in the first person for all but the last sentence and the last sentence is a very common way of making his point. Nor do I think his comment about taking four minutes on LA means he puts himself in his league. The circumstances of the race, including the fact he knew LA wouldn't care, allowed him to gain some time and he took advantage of it. I think you're reading way to much into his quotes and letting your dislike for Evans cloud things.


----------



## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

He's usually a very modest and down to earth kind of guy, I'm a big fan of him since his mountain bike days. If you read everything, he clearly states he's not at Lance's level or Basso and Jan. His goal was to go a bit higher on GC, not beat Lance...


----------



## Alpedhuez55 (Jun 29, 2005)

Mel Erickson said:


> Sorry but I don't see any evidence of arrogance in that quote.


I agree, there is no arrogance in the quote. He is racing to get closer to Lance, but you try to gain time on the lead. By lead, he said Lance. What is he supposed to say, I thought I could overtake Kloden in the GC? 

And the third person quote is nothing bad. I am sure it sounds natural and not like the Semi-Literate NBA & NFL players who use tier name instead of I or Me every time they do an interview. Cadel used I about 10 times in that paragraph and just said "you are seeing the old Cadel" as a way of saying he is coming back into form. 

I think the original poster should cut him Evans little slack. It is funny how some people are taking the slightest mention of Lance in an interview as trash talk. THe first week in was Ullrich and Basso, last week it was Rasmussen & Vino, this week it is Evans. If anyone dares to explain what they need to do to beat Lance or talk about taking time out of Lance on a stage, then they are going to be called an arrogant trash talkn' SOB by the hoards of Lance Fanboys. None of those interviews were anything close to trash talk.


----------



## fastfullback (Feb 9, 2005)

*I like the Mad Libs inspiration for this thread.*

"Does anyone else think Cadel Evans is..."

Short
Cool
Gutsy
Tough
Better off without T-Mobile
A bit weak in the collarbones
The sort of underdog Grand Tours need
The only guy on his team who doesn't eat pommes frites with mayonnaise 

I like the Cadel story. Buckets of talent, equal amounts of bad luck the last few years. I hope if I were in his position I would fight back so hard and believe in myself so much.


----------



## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

fastfullback said:


> "Does anyone else think Cadel Evans is..."
> 
> Short
> Cool
> ...



don't forget, "a high-talker"


----------



## magnolialover (Jun 2, 2004)

*Evans...*

I, like many others, don't seem to see any arrogance in his quote you cited above. I don't know the guy. So could he be arrogant? Absolutely. Does it seem so from the quote you put down? Not likely. I've also read several articles and interviews with him in Cycle Sport and other racing mags over the last couple of years and he's seemed to be nothing but a hard worker, and having some bad luck (the whole collarbone thing). 

I also see him doing a good ride at le Tour this year, without any support whatsoever (he knew this going in though). His team is there to support McEwen, and if Cadel can climb higher in the rankings, all that much better for the team's exposure, and they might start looking possibly at getting some more support riders for the GC. 

Evans has had some bad luck, and a bad team experience from T-Mobile, but he did spend a short while in the Maglia Rosa back in his Mapei days, and has shown that he can be a top competitor on the road. I like his guile and his attitude, and wish him well. I hope we see better things form him shortly, that is if he can keep the rubber side down, I for one will be crossing my fingers for him on that note.


----------



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

mohair_chair said:


> Lighten up, Francis.


Wan summa this?

My mother called me Francis once. Just once.

nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

mr. francois


----------



## slowrider (Mar 12, 2004)

A complete jackass on those statement. No. The Lance comments remind me of the Tiger Wood comments you hear. They know when Lance and Tiger are on their game. They can't compete. If Tiger finishes in 13th place, the guy in 12th, feels like he won. On that level, I think it is more of a sign of respect they have for Lance. Oh yeah, Third person, remember "Bo knows"



xocsida said:


> A complete jackass?
> 
> I read this on cycling news today, and it's the second or third time I've heard him refer to himself in the third person during an interview:
> 
> ...


----------



## The Human G-Nome (Aug 26, 2002)

xocsida said:


> A complete jackass?
> 
> I read this on cycling news today, and it's the second or third time I've heard him refer to himself in the third person during an interview:
> 
> ...


LOL. After reading all the responses to your posts, the short answer is "yes", you are indeed the ONLY person who thinks that Cadel Evans is "an arrogant prick". Nice try though.


----------



## ajoc_prez (Jul 14, 2004)

The other day Cadel was quoted as saying something like: "I'm good, but not in the same class as some of these other guys".

I don't think he's arrogant... he knows he's not quite there yet. Oh, and he's one helluva mountain biker!


----------



## Terrapin1 (Jun 30, 2005)

Virenque seems to like him. 

"He's shown on the last few stages that he's a good climber, and to do what he did today augurs well for the future."

hmmm..


----------



## Cevan (Jul 19, 2004)

*Met Cadel at Mt. Snow*

in 1999 I think. I saw him a couple hours before the start of his race in the pit area. I asked him about his bike, how he felt that day. He answered my questions and then I bid him good luck and he said thanks. I know, this is one encounter but to say the guy is arrogant b/c he said "the old Cadel is back" is way off. 

However, might he have been better off going for the stage win rather than moving up on the GC? I don't think he'll finish any higher come Sunday.


----------



## dagger (Jul 22, 2004)

*You are reading too much into this*



xocsida said:


> A complete jackass?
> 
> Of course, I really disliked him as a mountain biking pro too...jackass.


Because I don't see any attitude in these quotes. In the start of this race Cadel and Lance had a conversation before Cadel joined in the breakaway which was part of the video coverage. My guess was Cadel was telling Lance his plans to make sure Lance understood his motivations and apparently Lance as the "Boss" gave him his blessings.


----------



## Asiago (Jan 28, 2004)

*good grief*



xocsida said:


> A complete jackass?
> 
> I read this on cycling news today, and it's the second or third time I've heard him refer to himself in the third person during an interview:
> 
> ...


Like him or not, but you are forgetting the portion of that same interview where he kept talking about how he's several levels below that of the top GC contenders. How the stages on Sat. and Sun. were for the top level riders, of which he again repeatedly admitted he was not one of. So, coming to this stage on Tues. there was an opportunity to do something and be ignored so that's what he did.

I thought the interview was anything BUT arrogant.

But I don't really care for the guy either.


----------



## kissthedemon (Aug 27, 2003)

I think he must have been thinking about Robbie McEwen.


----------



## izibo (Jul 2, 2004)

No, but read this news item and you can see he definitely IS AN ASS.



> Francaise des Jeux rider Philippe Gilbert finished fifth on yesterday's final Pyrenean stage of the Tour. He told Belgian media that he was pleased with his ride, but added that he was ticked off with Cadel Evans.
> 
> "We took off after 25km, in good company, it was a nice finale," he said in an interview with Sporza TV. "I looked at doing something on this stage; it's nice to finish 5th again in my first Tour. It's good for the team and myself. I've put in two solid efforts, it's surely beneficial to my self-confidence."
> 
> ...


----------



## peterpen (May 5, 2004)

izibo said:


> No, but read this news item and you can see he definitely IS AN ASS.


Spot on. It *is* racing, but part of that is having to work against/with the same faces again in another race. That quote won't win him many allies.
At the same time, points for looking out for #1. Evans does occasionally come across as full of himself, but at least he busts his @ss to try and back it up.


----------



## patchito (Jun 30, 2005)

OMG!! that's nothing. Did you see what he was wearing? OMG those colors SO don't go together. How can he even show his face in public. And the way he talks...I can't just tell he's a total priss. I hate him!


----------



## milroy (Feb 23, 2005)

izibo said:


> No, but read this news item and you can see he definitely IS AN ASS.


Rubbish. Agreements like this are only ever going to last as long as they are beneficial to both parties. Gilbert is just ticked off becuase he fell so far behind he couldn't get back on the group of 4 that formed on the desent. Evans felt he was being held back on the climb. Its racing after all.


----------



## izibo (Jul 2, 2004)

How is that rubbish? He made a promise and then went against it!

Does maintaining your word and honor mean anything to you?


----------



## Iwannapodiumgirl (Jun 26, 2002)

*Have you cycled in his shoes?*



izibo said:


> How is that rubbish? He made a promise and then went against it!
> 
> Does maintaining your word and honor mean anything to you?


Too let me understand your argument...

If you made a promise to someone, and circumstances chance such that keeping that promise would jeopardise you in some way, you would rather keep that promise to maintain your word and honour, than go against that promise to advance or protect yourself?


----------



## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

I need to race with more of you guys, I'd win everyday... "But he promissssed he wouldn't attack" haha.

K


----------



## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Why does that make Evans an ass? He agreed to stay with the group so they could keep as much lead as possible, but the group started losing time. That nullifies the agreement, so Evans saw the writing on the wall and struck out on his own. He obviously was stronger, so why should he sacrifice his chance to move up on GC to keep the weaker guys happy? It's a race, after all, and "let's all band together, ride only as fast as our weakest member and get caught" is not a good racing strategy. Gilbert might as well stay out of breaks in the future if that's how he plays the game.


----------



## The Human G-Nome (Aug 26, 2002)

IUbike said:


> I need to race with more of you guys, I'd win everyday... "But he promissssed he wouldn't attack" haha.
> 
> K



Today's stage was pretty interesting. I'm not sure what was with that sprint around LA at the end since LA lead the whole group for a kilometer and they all get the same time. It looked more like a rookie move then anything malicious though. It looked like LA was surprised as well, and you could tell he said something to Cadel about it.


----------



## Jesse D Smith (Jun 11, 2005)

kissthedemon said:


> I think he must have been thinking about Robbie McEwen.[/QUOTE
> Or was it tennis player Leyton Hewett? Or Russel Crowe? Or Mel Gibson? Or the '00 Aussie men's swimming team?
> I'm beginning to suspect Stewart O'Grady was adopted.


----------



## Jesse D Smith (Jun 11, 2005)

The Human G-Nome said:


> Today's stage was pretty interesting. I'm not sure what was with that sprint around LA at the end since LA lead the whole group for a kilometer and they all get the same time. It looked more like a rookie move then anything malicious though. It looked like LA was surprised as well, and you could tell he said something to Cadel about it.


from cyclingnews.com
"Unfortunately for Evans, his sprint to take 11th place displeased Lance Armstrong, who had led the group up to the finish line. "He wasn't happy about me coming past at the finish," Evans said. "He said 'What was that for?' I suppose he meant that I hadn't done any work. But hey, it's a bike race and you put a finish line in front of me on a day like today with the adrenalin pumping and I can't help myself. I don't even know what day it is, man.""

Well, when Lance gets a chance to exercise his power tomorrow, and it happens to be at the expense of Evans, well, hey, it's a bike race.
Many here may not understand it, but cycling protocol dictates a certain respect for the yellow jersey, particularly Lance who's worked for, earned, and won it so many times. 

Caddy can talk all he wants about being on a lower level of performance, but then he might want to follow up by not pulling a rookie move and showing up the greatest Tour rider in history. 

Lance faced expulsion for not wanting to wear the yellow when Zabrinski lost it due to crash. Instead of whining about the rule, he told interviewers he understood the rationale and how the public waits and deserves to see the yellow jersey pass by. 
Evans needs to learn the difference between challenging the yellow jersey for the overall lead and showing a little respect.


----------



## divve (May 3, 2002)

I think it's only a perceived negative connotation when you read his words. I've seen and listened to him when he said it. He doesn't come across as arrogant at all. He's simply pleased to be in the top 10 now and being able to hang onto it.

He could've done without passing Lance on the line however.


----------



## Crank-a-Roo (Mar 21, 2003)

Armstrong may not like the fact that Evans sprinted past him. So What? They are in a Bike Race and they are racing for positions. Pure and Simple. If Evans didn't want to settle for 13 place, well, he sprinted across the line.

If that was King Eddy, he would have challenged Evans Back while they were on course, not afterward.


----------



## Sintesi (Nov 13, 2001)

fastfullback said:


> "Does anyone else think Cadel Evans is..."
> 
> Short
> Cool
> ...


Evans and Pereiro were the two riders who earned the most respect from me in this tour. Cadel suffered like a dog to get into the top 10. I was impressed.


----------



## pantau (Jan 30, 2005)

izibo said:


> Gilbert said that he was unhappy with Cadel Evans, as he considered that the Australian broke an agreement to keep the group together on the Aubisque. Evans attacked on the climb, cresting the summit clear of the other riders in the breakaway.


same with J. Ludewig, who was also in that group. the group worked for Cadel (agreement), till he attacked...


----------



## tricycletalent (Apr 2, 2005)

izibo said:


> How is that rubbish? He made a promise and then went against it!
> 
> Does maintaining your word and honor mean anything to you?


Yeah, he shouldn't have promised a thing, having said that, he probably only said it to get gilbert of his back who was badgering him for being in the breakaway, coz they thought cadel would minimize their chances. So they tried to put mental pressure on him, which resulted in that lie. Gilbert is just as selfish as Cadel, and mind you, how far behind should you be in the general classification to be allowed on a breakaway? As Cadel realized, Gilbert and the others didn't want him there, should he just throw away the work he had done to get there? How is that fair?

No, Cadel ain't no more ass than Gilbert. If anything, Gilbert is a sorry lil fellow who feels happy whining to the press coz he was unlucky with the selection of breakaway partners. Period.


----------

