# Cadel getting old, at 35yo? There, I said it.



## PJay (May 28, 2004)

Cadel getting old? There, I said it. There have been two finishes where he could have used his power to wreck thing, but he failed to do it. Today, in Stage 8, Cadel made an attempt to leave ther elite chase eschelon, but could not. Was he just testing to see where everyone else - esp Wiggins - was at, or was he lacking power he thought he should have?


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## erj549 (Jul 26, 2008)

He's probably not yet peaked, would be my guess. All these little attacks may just serve to sharpen his form for the real mountains where it really counts.


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## LWP (Jun 6, 2006)

PJay said:


> Today, in Stage 8, Cadel made an attempt to leave ther elite chase eschelon, but could not.


I don't think it had anything to do with age, I think it was more to do with leaving the elite chase eschelon just isn't as easy as all that when they don't want to be left.


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## GoldenR (Apr 22, 2012)

There was no reason for him to take a stage win. If wiggins ran away and evans stayed back you could say he has lost it. 
Still early in the race, no reason to waste energy chasing non gc contenders


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

GoldenR said:


> There was no reason for him to take a stage win. If wiggins ran away and evans stayed back you could say he has lost it.
> Still early in the race, no reason to waste energy chasing non gc contenders


It's hard to see the outcome of yesterdays attacks as anything else than failed.


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## erj549 (Jul 26, 2008)

den bakker said:


> It's hard to see the outcome of yesterdays attacks as anything else than failed.


Yesterday Evans looked massively overgeared, nothing more. It does seem to me that Sky riders are more "prepared" than everyone else. We shall see what comes of that.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

In the end if it comes down to seconds we'll hear about how Cadel worked for every second and left nothing for chance. On the other hand easy to say that he's burning matches and each time he fails the others around him learn a little more about him and feel a little more confident when he doesn't succeed


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## ohvrolla (Aug 2, 2009)

Between the two i expect Wiggins to be the one who has a bad day or cracks on a climb and expect Evans to test him every chance he gets.


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## CheapTrek (Dec 23, 2011)

teoteoteo said:


> In the end if it comes down to seconds we'll hear about how Cadel worked for every second and left nothing for chance. On the other hand easy to say that he's burning matches and each time he fails the others around him learn a little more and feel a little more confident.


We should be so lucky!

If in the final stage it were to come down to a few seconds we might actually see a finish on the final stage where the GC's are not sipping champagne.


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## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

Quick attacks have never been Cadel's strong suit. He's more like Wiggins then I think I lot of people like to believe. He can ride away or catch a break using a powerful yet drawn out acceleration. That, in combination with a strong TT is how he won last year's tour and that's how Wiggins will most likely, IMO, win this one.


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## EuroSVT (Sep 15, 2011)

Cadel is doing just fine. I think his little attacks are just jabs, studying the competition for now. He is going against two Sky riders atm, so he has a little homework to do. Pretty sure he still kas a knock-out punch or two left in him, but he looks fine out on the road so far. And I know that Phil said it earlier, but even during Dauphiné I thought he was sandbagging. Don't get me wrong, I'm not really a fan of his, but do think he's got this tour. Physically, even with a "high mileage" body, 35 isn't that old.

The guy I'm wondering about is Nibali. Can't figure out if he's smoking himself trying to keep up or what. In any case, Liquigas doesn't seem able to help him out enough during the past two stages. Then again once they really hit the climbing, Basso could be his ace in the hole


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

Cadel finishes in second place two hard days in a row, is in second place in the GC by only ten seconds, is fighting through the mountains alone against a stacked Sky team, and he is being called "old" already? Jesus, I hope to be that "old" one day. 

Does not being "old" mean that he has to leap from and bury a group containing Nibali, Schleck, Wiggins, and so forth day after day? I'm glad Marco Pantani isn't competing in this race. 

The time trials and high mountains are still ahead. At this point, the race is shaping up exactly as predicted, with a fairly evenly matched Evans and Wiggins leaving everybody else behind, with Nibali and Menchov nipping at their heels.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

thechriswebb said:


> Cadel finishes in second place two hard days in a row, is in second place in the GC by only ten seconds, is fighting through the mountains alone against a stacked Sky team, and he is being called "old" already? Jesus, I hope to be that "old" one day.
> 
> Does not being "old" mean that he has to leap from and bury a group containing Nibali, Schleck, Wiggins, and so forth day after day? I'm glad Marco Pantani isn't competing in this race.
> 
> The time trials and high mountains are still ahead. At this point, the race is shaping up exactly as predicted, with a fairly evenly matched Evans and Wiggins leaving everybody else behind, with Nibali and Menchov nipping at their heels.




All of this and some!

Cadel did late stage attacks last year as well. He's a diesel monster and knows what he's doing, AND he's exciting to watch.


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## zacolnago (Feb 15, 2006)

Sky seem alot more organised than BMC. Wiggins is never alone, whereas Evans seems to be doing all the hard lifting in the team, especially towards the end of the stages.


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## grandprix (Jul 8, 2012)

There is still a tremendous amount of climbing left to do. 

Being in yellow at this point, especially seeing how well Sky seems to be going, would not be an advantage.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Frith said:


> Quick attacks have never been Cadel's strong suit. He's more like Wiggins then I think I lot of people like to believe. He can ride away or catch a break using a powerful yet drawn out acceleration. That, in combination with a strong TT is how he won last year's tour and that's how Wiggins will most likely, IMO, win this one.


he has a punchy uphill sprint, a-la Gilbert or JRod. That's how Cadel won classics and several classics-like stages in Grand Tour. I think Sky was just too good yesterday. He also tried today. 

Sky train is almost too good to believe!


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

thechriswebb said:


> The time trials and high mountains are still ahead. At this point, the race is shaping up exactly as predicted, with a fairly evenly matched Evans and Wiggins leaving everybody else behind, with Nibali and Menchov nipping at their heels.


+eleventy


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## ohvrolla (Aug 2, 2009)

55x11 said:


> he has a punchy uphill sprint, a-la Gilbert or JRod. That's how Cadel won classics and several classics-like stages in Grand Tour. I think Sky was just too good yesterday. He also tried today.
> 
> Sky train is almost too good to believe!


Chris Froome ain't no joke. I'd say better than a lot of team's leaders. Really hated to see Sky not back him at the Vuelta.


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

ohvrolla said:


> Chris Froome ain't no joke. I'd say better than a lot of team's leaders. Really hated to see Sky not back him at the Vuelta.


I don't think they knew he's be that good, that deep into the Vuelta and it was probably considered a risk to change the plan. He's been spectacular and I hope he moves to another team so we can see him race for himself more.

Cadel is a stud. Attacking away from GC contenders fails a lot because it's extremely hard and he will keep trying. Maybe someone else will be strong enough to join him and we'll see Sky under some real pressure (if anyone else can survive their onslaught).


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

Cadel is just where he wants to be... I think BMC's team was built to get him through the first week out of trouble... after that, his team isn't too great. Sky are the opposite... It makes a lot of sense for Cadel to make sure Wiggins is in yellow and that he's not for now. Sky will have to work to protect the jersey and will have to ride on the front. BMC wont... Hopefully for Cadel, Sky will burn a lot of energy so later, they're not as strong as they are now. If Cadel would have got the yellow this weekend, his team would have been shattered in no time. All is going well for Cadel.

I also think his attacks were just tests, see who reacts, study what's possible for later...

I think Nibali doesn't need to use his team for now... he's saving them for later needs. If Basso and Smyzd are on form in the mountains, they could do some damage.


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## 67caddy (Nov 4, 2009)

We haven't even hit the long mountain stages yet. I wouldn't be calling Cadel out of this yet. There are still a lot of cards to play. Both Cadel and Nibali tested Wiggins descending skills today. Stages 10 and 16 are where Wiggins is going to have contend with this again. These are longer mountain stages, and the it would be more likely that Wiggins will be isolated from his teammates in at least one of those stages. If Wiggins loses site of Cadel and/or Nibali on one of these, he could lose huge chunks of time.


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## Rider Dave (Jul 6, 2012)

That same thought came to mind after yesterday's finish when Froome challenged with break at finish and Cadel did not respond. It really looked like Cadel wanted that stage when he pulled away from Wiggins?


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

davidka said:


> Maybe someone else will be strong enough to join him and we'll see Sky under some real pressure (if anyone else can survive their onslaught).


I've been under the impression from listening to interviews that Cadel is trying to call out Nibali and VDB to team up with him to work against the Sky Armada. 

On a downhill finish on a high mountain stage, Evans and Nibali working together could put in a devastating attack if they work together. Those two go downhill better than just about anybody in the peloton.


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## PJay (May 28, 2004)

*any opinions changed after that tt?*

any opinions changed after that tt?
being two minutes down looks big, but may not be so big if evans has at least one super mountain stage.
but after that tt, it is getting a bit harder to say he is just holding back, testing, and so on.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

PJay said:


> any opinions changed after that tt?
> being two minutes down looks big, but may not be so big if evans has at least one super mountain stage.
> but after that tt, it is getting a bit harder to say he is just holding back, testing, and so on.


My opinion of this years Tour has changed after that TT skep. In regards to Evans though, I don't he held back for the TT.


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## LesDiablesRouges (Jul 17, 2009)

I don't think it's so much of getting old as it is that Evans wasn't an overwhelming talent to begin with and with age comes decline.

Among the pantheon of TDF winners Evans is near the bottom of my book. It's not a slam it's just the reality that he'll be a one time winner which makes him part of the top 1% of all time, but he's never going to be confused as one of the greatest cyclists.

To use a baseball analogy he's like Eddie Murray, a hall of famer, but never a superstar or the best player in the game. 

I don't think he was even the best in last year's tour despite winning it. I'm not an Evans hater it just so happens that there are guys who win the TDF who weren't the best but did so because there wasn't an emergent superstar or the old superstar was on his way out or the strongest rider crashed etc. 

I know it sounds extremely negative but I've never really rated Evans. Granted, it's simply my opinion and I'm sure I'll get flamed for it, but he just doesn't do it for me so I'm not surprised that Wiggins/Froome are better than him.


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> I don't think it's so much of getting old as it is that Evans wasn't an overwhelming talent to begin with and with age comes decline.
> 
> Among the pantheon of TDF winners Evans is near the bottom of my book. It's not a slam it's just the reality that he'll be a one time winner which makes him part of the top 1% of all time, but he's never going to be confused as one of the greatest cyclists.
> 
> ...


I couldn't disagree more. I consider him one of the most talented riders. Capable of many disciplines and a true racer. I'm not surprised that Froome can climb better than him, but I am surprised that Froome found his time trialing legs all of the sudden to beat the best in the world. 

A brief re-cap.

1993
1st U-17 XC Australian MTB Champion
1994
1st U-19 XC Australian MTB Champion
2nd U-19 XC Mountain Bike World Championships
1995
3rd U-19 XC Mountain Bike World Championships
3rd Individual Time Trial Juniors World Championship
1996
1st XC Australian MTB Champion
3rd U-23 XC Mountain Bike World Championships
9th Atlanta Olympics Mountain Bike Race
1997
1st XC Australian MTB Champion
2nd U-23 XC Mountain Bike World Championships
1998
1st Overall Mountain Bike World Cup
1999
1st Overall Tour of Tasmania 
1st Stage 3
1st Young rider's competition Tour Down Under
1st Overall Mountain Bike World Cup
2nd U-23 XC Mountain Bike World Championchips
2000
7th Sydney Olympics Mountain Bike Cross Country
2001
1st Overall Tour of Austria
2nd Team Relay Mountain Bike World Championships
2002
1st Individual Time Trial Commonwealth Games
1st Stage 5 Tour Down Under 
1st King Mountains Competition
1st Stage 1 Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale
1st Stage 4 International UNIQA Classic
2nd Road Race Commonwealth Games
3rd Overall Tour de Romandie
14th Overall Giro d'Italia 
Held Maglia Rosa for Stage 16–17
2003
1st King Mountains Competition Tour Down Under
2004
1st Overall Tour of Austria 
1st Stage 2
2005
1st Stage 7 Deutschland Tour
8th Overall Tour de France 
4th Stage 16
2006
1st Overall Tour de Romandie 
1st Stage 5
1st King Mountains Competition Tour Down Under
4th Overall Tour de France
7th Overall Tour of California
2007
Champion UCI ProTour
1st Stage 2 ITT Test Event Beijing 2008
1st Stage 1 Part B TTT Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale Coppi-Bartali
2nd Overall Tour de France 
1st Stage 13
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
4th Overall Vuelta a España
4th Overall Tour de Romandie
6th Giro di Lombardia
2008
1st Overall, Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 
1st Stage 3
1st Stage 4 Paris–Nice
2nd Overall Tour de France 
Held Maillot Jaune From Stages 10–14
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 
1st Stage 2
7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2009
1st Road Race World Champion
2nd Overall Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 
1st Stage 5
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 
1st Stage 1
1st Points classification
3rd Overall Vuelta a España 
Held Jersey Oro for Stage 8
Held Maillot Combinada from Stages 8–11
4th Overall Vuelta al País Vasco
5th La Flèche Wallonne
2010
1st La Flèche Wallonne
3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
5th Overall Giro d'Italia 
1st Stage 7
1st Points Classification
1st Azzurri d'Italia Classification
Held Maglia Rosa for Stage 2
4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
6th Overall Tour Down Under 
Most Aggressive rider Stage 5
Tour de France 
Held Maillot Jaune for Stage 9
2011
1st Overall Tour de France 
1st Stage 4
Held for stages 4–5
1st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 
1st Stage 6
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
7th Overall USA Pro Cycling Challenge
8th Overall Volta a Catalunya
2012
1st Overall Critérium International 
1st Points classification
1st Stage 2 (ITT)
3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné 
1st Points classification
1st Stage 1


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## flyrunride (May 2, 2012)

Cadel needs to step up. New plan of attack with the other GC contenders or will he just bide his time and hope for the best during the mountain stages? As it stands Wiggo seems to have the edge having climbers in his team to pursue attackers on the climbs.


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## gusmahler (Apr 7, 2012)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> I don't think he was even the best in last year's tour despite winning it.


This is a strange comment. Who was better than Evans? Certainly not Contador or the Schleck brothers. If you're referring to Voeckler, Evans knew that he could smoke Voeckler on the ITT, so didn't have to try on the other stages.


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## yurl (Mar 31, 2010)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> Among the pantheon of TDF winners Evans is near the bottom of my book. It's not a slam it's just the reality that he'll be a one time winner which makes him part of the top 1% of all time, but he's never going to be confused as one of the greatest cyclists.


out of the last decade's winners

Lance > Contador > Evans > Andy > Sastre > Pereiro

Evans will never be uttered in the same breathe as Merckx but he's no fluke either. remember he came 2nd twice, as well as classics wins. bottom is pretty hash. he's somewhere in the middle.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> Among the pantheon of TDF winners Evans is near the bottom of my book. It's not a slam it's just the reality that he'll be a one time winner which makes him part of the top 1% of all time, but he's never going to be confused as one of the greatest cyclists.


There have only been 20 multiple winners of the TdF. Twelve of which only won it twice.

While only winning once so far, Cadel has consistantly been at the top. There could have easily been 2-3 wins.
2005 8th Overall Tour de France 
2006 4th Overall Tour de France
2007 2nd Overall Tour de France 
2008 2nd Overall Tour de France 
2011 1st Overall Tour de France 

He's as consistant (or more) than these guys.
Alberto Contador: 30th, 1st, 1st
Andy Schleck: 12th, 2nd, 1st, 2nd
Carlos Sastre: 20th, 10th, 9th, 8th, 21st, 3rd, 4th, 1st, 16th, 20th
Óscar Pereiro: 10th, 9th, 1st, 10th


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

I'd say he is in trouble now. There is still another ITT that is longer than this one.... so figure he loses another 2 minutes or so.......that means he has to make up 4 minutes between now and then to take yellow. 

Stage 11 and 17 are the only 2 mountain finishes where you would think he at least has a chance to put real time into Wiggins........downhill finishes are to easy to make time back up on a leader. 

So unless Wiggins has a bad day in the mountains or has already burned all his matches, I'm really not seeing this as a high probability.

We will see

Len


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## LesDiablesRouges (Jul 17, 2009)

88 rex said:


> I couldn't disagree more. I consider him one of the most talented riders. Capable of many disciplines and a true racer. I'm not surprised that Froome can climb better than him, but I am surprised that Froome found his time trialing legs all of the sudden to beat the best in the world.
> 
> A brief re-cap.
> 
> ...



I suppose talent is in the eye of the beholder. As I said I think he's quite talented but I've just never fancied him as a legend/superstar. 

To me he'll fit in the picture as a one time TDF winner above Riis, Delgado, Pereiro, Roche, and Sastre but behind, Ulriich, Van Impe and Ocana, Bahamontes, and Zoetemelk.

He's only won 3 grand tour stages. That to me isn't a hallmark of a great champion.


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## LesDiablesRouges (Jul 17, 2009)

tlg said:


> There have only been 20 multiple winners of the TdF. Twelve of which only won it twice.
> 
> While only winning once so far, Cadel has consistantly been at the top. There could have easily been 2-3 wins.
> 2005 8th Overall Tour de France
> ...


Come on now. You picked two of worst TDF winners, a guy who can't TT and a doper who still has won a lot more than Evans when you factor in the Giro and the Vuelta.

He's not even as close to as good as Joop Zoetemelk, Ocana, Bahamontes.

He's won 3 grand tour stages none of which were in the same campaign.

I don't hate him by any stretch of the imagination I'm merely illustrating that while he is an excellent rider and clearly one of the best of his era he'll never go down as someone who dominated the sport. 

A great rider who was able to put it together in 2011, but hardly a dominant champion.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> Come on now. You picked two of worst TDF winners, a guy who can't TT and a doper who still has won a lot more than Evans when you factor in the Giro and the Vuelta.


I didn't pick anything. That's a list of all the winners since Lance. Cadel has them all beat.
Giro and Vuelta? I thought we were talking about the TdF?


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## LesDiablesRouges (Jul 17, 2009)

tlg said:


> I didn't pick anything. That's a list of all the winners since Lance. Cadel has them all beat.
> Giro and Vuelta? I thought we were talking about the TdF?


Fair enough,

I prefer to look at cyclists from a larger historical perspective. 

The Giro and La Vuelta are important to measure the the achievements.

As are grand classics.

Evans is a good TDF rider but his legacy may not even be as good as say Gianni Bugno
who had one Giro title
two world championships
four stage wins in the Tour De France
two vuelta stages
nine giro stages
1 San Sebastian win
1 Milan- San Remo win
1 Ronde Vlaanderen win

Evans has 3 total grand tour stage wins
2 TDF wins
1 TDF title
1 Giro stage win
1 Giro Green Jersey title
1 World championship
and 
1 Fleche Wallonne


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> Fair enough,
> 
> I prefer to look at cyclists from a larger historical perspective.


Fair enough, just wanted to be clear that what you originally said is being re-defined (or clarified).



> The Giro and La Vuelta are important to measure the the achievements.


Did Armstrong win stages in either of those?

Surely, Cadel will not be among the top in TdF history. But to claim he's among the bottom? There's a whole slew of one time wonders that would fall below him.


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## gusmahler (Apr 7, 2012)

tlg said:


> Fair enough, just wanted to be clear that what you originally said is being re-defined (or clarified).
> 
> Did Armstrong win stages in either of those?


Lance only competed in the Giro and Vuelta once each. He never won a stage in either.


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> I don't think it's so much of getting old as it is that Evans wasn't an overwhelming talent to begin with and with age comes decline.
> 
> Among the pantheon of TDF winners Evans is near the bottom of my book. It's not a slam it's just the reality that he'll be a one time winner which makes him part of the top 1% of all time, but he's never going to be confused as one of the greatest cyclists.
> 
> ...



I'm not flaming; everyone has a right to their own opinion but I do strongly disagree with you. 

Evans is an incredible talent. Unfortunately, he appears to have suffered from some sort of psychological and perhaps psychiatric issue that has been in his way over the years, as well as dismal team support. When Evans mind gets in his way, he defeats himself. Over the past decade, we have seen Evans blow up monumentally several times and when it happened it was exponential. However, in times that Evans managed to get on top of himself mentally, he was stunning. Personally, I think Evans could have been the most dominant rider of his generation but he is extremely emotional and has been defeated by his emotions many times. My fear now is that Evans may actually have the talent to be competitive through the rest of this Tour but that the psychological blow of this time trial defeat today could throw him off and cause him to plummet out of the top ten. I hope not because I like to see him win (when he does win it tends to be particularly gritty). 

I don't know who you think could have been stronger than Evans last year. Andy Schleck had a nice mountaintop victory but Evans chased him alone for many many miles and kept him well within reach. His and Frank's time trials were abysmal in comparison to Evans'. Voeckler fought hard but Evans defeated him squarely. Regardless of his stage racing resume, Contador was not in the same class as Evans in the Tour last year. Evans Tour victory was a very good one that was earned by hard and determined racing throughout the entire Tour.


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## LesDiablesRouges (Jul 17, 2009)

thechriswebb said:


> I'm not flaming; everyone has a right to their own opinion but I do strongly disagree with you.
> 
> Evans is an incredible talent. Unfortunately, he appears to have suffered from some sort of psychological and perhaps psychiatric issue that has been in his way over the years, as well as dismal team support. When Evans mind gets in his way, he defeats himself. Over the past decade, we have seen Evans blow up monumentally several times and when it happened it was exponential. However, in times that Evans managed to get on top of himself mentally, he was stunning. Personally, I think Evans could have been the most dominant rider of his generation but he is extremely emotional and has been defeated by his emotions many times. My fear now is that Evans may actually have the talent to be competitive through the rest of this Tour but that the psychological blow of this time trial defeat today could throw him off and cause him to plummet out of the top ten. I hope not because I like to see him win (when he does win it tends to be particularly gritty).
> 
> I don't know who you think could have been stronger than Evans last year. Andy Schleck had a nice mountaintop victory but Evans chased him alone for many many miles and kept him well within reach. His and Frank's time trials were abysmal in comparison to Evans'. Voeckler fought hard but Evans defeated him squarely. Regardless of his stage racing resume, Contador was not in the same class as Evans in the Tour last year. Evans Tour victory was a very good one that was earned by hard and determined racing throughout the entire Tour.


Part of being the best is psychological. My issue with Evans has been lack demonstrative crushing blows to his opponents, which ties in with his lack of stage wins in the grand tours. 



Where does he rank in the pantheon of all time TDF winners? 
I'd still argue only above, Riis, Pereiro, Sastre, 

Where does he rank in the Pantheon of all time cyclists?
Like I said he's around the level of Gianni Bugno which is an excellent cyclist but not among the greats.


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## flyrunride (May 2, 2012)

grandprix said:


> There is still a tremendous amount of climbing left to do.
> 
> Being in yellow at this point, especially seeing how well Sky seems to be going, would not be an advantage.


I'm just guessing this too, maybe Cadel just wants to be close enough and keep his place then have Sky lead the peloton, cover any attacks/breaks thus break them slowly. Then as the tour hits the mountains, Cadel/Nibali/Schleck/etc. can attack and chip off or gain time?! Still looking to be a great Tour barring those nasty crashes.... :aureola:


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> Where does he rank in the pantheon of all time TDF winners?
> I'd still argue only above, Riis, Pereiro, Sastre,


Then where do you put Contador & Schleck?


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## 88 rex (Mar 18, 2008)

LesDiablesRouges said:


> Part of being the best is psychological. My issue with Evans has been lack demonstrative crushing blows to his opponents, which ties in with his lack of stage wins in the grand tours.


How many stage podiums does he have? Compared to the rest?


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