Tour Down Under: Farewell to Cadel Evans, Cycling's Much-Needed Honest Man
Jan 19, 2015
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 18: Cadel Evans of Australia and the BMC Racing team signs on before riding in the People's Choice Classic, a one day event prior to Stage 1 of the 2015 Santos Tour Down Under on January 18, 2015 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)
The beginning of the 2015 road cycling season coincides with the sport's chance to bid farewell to one of its key players of recent times. Amid the heat of the Australian summer, Cadel Evans—one of the country's favourite sons—takes part in his final World Tour race this week; the Tour Down Under.
The 2009 World Champion and 2011 Tour de France winner's official retirement comes in February after his participation in the first edition of the race named in his honour: the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. Earlier this month the BMC Racing Team member finished 11th in his final Australian Road National Championships.
The 37-year-old's contributions to the progression of Australian cycling will certainly form a considerable part of his legacy.
The longevity and success Evans and others of his generation (the likes of Baden Cooke and Robbie McEwen) have enjoyed in the predominantly Europe-based peloton has helped create an entry point for a team like Orica-GreenEDGE, and helped events like the TDU flourish.
It has also aided the advancement of others not associated with the country's new cycling power. Sky general classification rider Richie Porte and IAM Cycling's new Australian champion Heinrich Haussler among them.
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 18: Cadel Evans of Australia and the BMC Racing competes in the People's Choice Classic, a one day event prior to Stage 1 of the 2015 Santos Tour Down Under on January 18, 2015 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Morne de Kle
On a broader scale, Evans has been the kind of human competitor—flawed, triumphant and more often than he would like, mediocre—cycling desperately needed at a time many of its former stars were being found out as synthetically enhanced.
In the January 2015 issue of Pro Cycling magazine, Herbie Sykes described Evans as "an extremely principled human being, almost Corinthian in his world view." The article details his relationship with the late Aldo Sassi, his boss at Mapei in 2002, and mentor thereafter. "Having been exposed to cycling's squalid doping 'culture', he found a kindred spirit in Sassi."
The veteran Sassi's base was the Mapei training centre in northern Italy. In an interview with Gregor Brown, via Cycling Weekly, he gave a fascinating insight into the tenets of his philosophy. As the Italian noted in the following quote, his system (which later attracted reformed doper and former Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso) was not perfect, but its core simplicity evidently appealed to the conscientious Evans:
Every rider that comes here has to be committed to ride clean and be available for all the haemoglobin testing that we wish. If someone does not accept these, then we don’t work with him. Maybe this is not enough to be sure they are clean, but it is a good start.
It undoubtedly was a good start for Evans. "If you are strong enough you can reach the results you want on your own using only your commitment and your muscles," Sassi said reflectively years later.
His protege proved it early on with a spell in the maglia rosa at the '02 Giro d'Italia. From there, increased comfort in stage races gave way to even stronger showings in grand tours. Fourth in the 2006 Tour de France became second a year later, a result he repeated in 2008.
Evans in Mapei colours during the 2002 Giro d'Italia.
The prominence of subsequently proven dopers Floyd Landis and Michael Rasmussen in the '06 and '07 editions, respectively, was proof of the difficulties which plagued the pursuit of honest competition on cycling's biggest stage.
Evans' obstacles to success in '08 originated from more acceptable perils of racing.
Backed by the brothers Schleck, Team CSC's Carlos Sastre ended the widely tipped Evans' five-stage mid-race run in yellow. The Spaniard's sole grand tour triumph was sealed with a memorable stage 17 assault on Alpe d'Huez.
Two minutes and 15 seconds behind Sastre that day, Evans deficit was just 58 seconds by the time they crossed the line on the Champs-Elysees. There was no shame in his inability to hold off a CSC team more equipped for the challenge than his Silence-Lotto outfit. Nonetheless, his frustration was palpable.
In a year when the absence of previous winner Alberto Contador had opened things up, Evans' own mindset suggested he was not quite ready to step forward to Tour glory.
PIANFEI, ITALY - JULY 21: Cadel Evans of Australia and team Silence-Lotto stands in the door opening of the team bus prior to a training on the second rest day of the 2008 Tour de France on July 21, 2008 in Pianfei, Italy. Evans stands third in the overa
His attitude to the requisite (but understandably infuriating in its abrasiveness) media questioning for a favourite was prickly at best. Evans' hostile response to the process—exacerbated by the struggles of the Tour (and who knows, maybe something else too)—became an almost daily feature of post-stage television coverage. An infamous incident saw him inform one reporter not to stand on his accompanying dog "or I cut your head off!"
It was not pretty, but it underlined Evans' status as a refreshingly more human, honest contender for the biggest prizes (in hindsight anyway). It also informed an important change of perspective.
As reported by CyclingNews' Susan Westemeyer in November 2009, Evans eventually saw the funny side of the aforementioned dog incident when he begun to sell "DON'T STAND ON MY DOG!" t-shirts. The stresses which accompanied his Tour de France near-miss a year earlier had begun to give way to a looser approach on and off the bike.
The biggest reward for the altered mindset (and the ample work and thought besides) was an emphatic World Championships win in Mendrisio, Switzerland. He broke free on the final lap, a good 5 km still remaining, and he successfully held off the charge of Joaquim Rodriguez and Fabian Cancellara, among others.
The rainbow man: Evans celebrates after winning the 2009 World Championships and the famous rainbow jersey.
It heralded the great penultimate act of Evans' career, one which was a testament to the experience he had garnered, from Sassi, his teams and hours of racing.
Victory in La Fleche Wallonne and the Giro's points classification came in 2010. In 2011 came his long-chased-after Tour success.
Now with BMC, Evans set out his stall with a narrow stage four win ahead of Contador. The Spaniard's below-par form and a mid-race injury to emerging contender Bradley Wiggins left the Aussie and Luxembourg pair of Andy and Franck Schleck, now of Leopard Trek, as the main contenders.
The '11 Tour was perhaps the most thrilling of the (fingers-crossed) clean-era races. The general classification battle was lit up by Thomas Voeckler's command of the maillot jaune from stage nine to 18. Entertaining racing accompanied his and others' exploits on a daily basis.
Evans, meanwhile, bode his time. He tracked just about every move the Schlecks made in their preferred mountain terrain with a concentration which captivated with its calculated zeal. His earlier success provided a most useful cushion between him and his rivals
Yellow on the Champs-Elysees at last. With the help of his BMC team-mates, the 2011 Tour de France saw Evans become Australia's first winner of cycling's biggest event.
On the penultimate stage time trial, 57 seconds between first place Andy and Cadel in third, the latter's greater expertise against the clock blew away the Schlecks. So strong was Evans on the 42.5 km trip around Grenoble, only the specialist Tony Martin beat him.
It has been perhaps fitting that the story of Evans, cycling's honest and much-needed champion, has wound down with a natural, gradual decline of his competitiveness.
Bad luck and the emergence of others never allowed a Tour repeat. Successes in the Criterium International and last year's Giro del Trentino, along with competitive rides in the Giro d'Italia, have shown he is still a welcome participant in just about any event.
Evans' time is nearly over now. The Tour Down Under and eponymous Great Ocean Road Race will hopefully provide him the chance to sign off with a smile in front of home fans.
Regardless of what follows in the coming few weeks, Evans has already done more than enough for cycling. It was far from easy along the way, but for those reasons exactly, is hard to imagine Sassi would not be proud.
Mixed 2014 Tour De France for American GC Contenders, but Hope for the Future
Jul 31, 2014
NANCY, FRANCE - JULY 11: Andrew Talansky of the United States and Garmin-Sharp arrives at the finish line after crashing in the sprint to the finish line in stage seven of the 2014 Le Tour de France from Epernay to Nancy on July 11, 2014 in Nancy, France. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
The nationalities of the riders topping the general classification meant the 2014 Tour de France was a bit of a throwback.
After three years of Australian and British, if not quite dominance, then certainly prominence, the top three was made up of names from two of cycling's traditional powers. The Italian winner Vincenzo Nibali, and French runners-up, Jean-Christophe Peraud and Thibaut Pinot.
The 2014 Tour de France podium was made up of men from a couple of cycling's "old-world" nations, France and Italy. The latter being the home to overall victor Vincenzo Nibali of Astana.
Had former winners and pre-race favourites, Britian's Chris Froome and Spain's Alberto Contador, not crashed out, it might have been a different story.
Nonetheless, it was a refreshing change of pace that will only enliven the battle for the yellow jersey next year.
The Tour's American presence this year was not defined by podium places, jerseys worn or stages won. It was one mostly beyond the headlines, marked fascinatingly by the past, present and future.
The past was there in the looming shadow of asterisk Tour winners Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis and the still raw fallout of cycling's doping shame of the last 20 years.
More happily, it was also evident in the amiable and informative figure of Greg LeMond—the three-time victor of the Tour who was working as an analyst for Eurosport.
Greg LeMond is congratulated by Bernard Hinault after winning an acrimonious 1986 Tour de France in which he had to fight off the Frenchman. LeMond is still the only American officially recognised to have won the Tour.
For the nine Americans taking part in this year's edition—particularly the three to be discussed in this article with aspirations or Grand Tour previous in the GC—LeMond is a welcome reminder of what they can achieve clean. The challenge was, and is, finding a way to succeed doing so.
Garmin-Sharp's Andrew Talansky was considered the most likely to deliver this year.
His final stage upset of Contador to win the Criterium du Dauphine in June was a tremendous victory in its own right—"It’s moments like this that make everything worth it," he told VeloNews—but also one which suggested he might be capable of improving on 2013's 10th-place Tour de France finish.
Like Contador, Froome and sprinter Mark Cavendish (among others), Talansky would not reach the Champs-Elysees. Illness, injury and the accompanying indignation saw him climb off his bike midway through Stage 11 to Oyonnax.
But then he got back on it.
The highlights of Talansky's efforts to complete that day's racing, or at least Juliet Macur's riveting account of it (above) in TheNew York Times, need to be watched/read accompanied by Bill Conti's piece from the Rocky soundtrack, "The Final Bell."
Alone but for the Garmin support car and spectators, Talansky is urged on during his attempts to complete Stage 11.
Warnings of regret from his directeur sportif, support from fans and peers, teeth-gritted resolve to cross the line—Talansky may have retired from the race the next day, but he did so after showing his mettle in determined fashion.
It was not a unique effort in cycling, but a captivating one all the same. "Maybe people won’t understand it, but I didn’t do it for a reward," he told Macur.
A commendable, stirring single day's work, proof he possesses the heart of a champion, or both? Opinions aside, real answers will not be forthcoming for a good while yet. In the meantime, Talansky will be back competing before the summer is out.
Tejay van Garderen's Tour de France was not so dramatically defined by a single moment.
ALPE D'HUEZ, FRANCE - JULY 18: Christophe Riblon (R) of France riding for AG2R La Mondiale leads Tejay van Garderen (C) of the United States riding for BMC Racing as they are chased by El Diablo (L) on the second climb of l'Alpe-d'Huez during stage eight
The BMC rider, who like Talansky is 25 years old, rode to an encouraging fifth place on the GC. It matched his previous best finish of 2012, when he also left Paris wearing the white jersey of the young riders' classification.
Progress, it might not have been, but after a confidence-shaking 2013 tilt at the Tour, it has at least got the Tacoma man back on the right route.
Compared to the dramatic loss of time on the decisive days (save for his so-near-yet-so-far crack at L'Alpe d'Huez on Stage 18) that led to him finishing 45th, 1:38:57 behind first-place Froome, van Garderen did fine work keeping pace with those competing for a top-10 place in 2014.
He was aided by a good shift by his BMC team-mates, excluding the rampant Nibali, whose nearest challenger Peraud was 07:37 behind.
Van Garderen still has work to do if he is to bridge the gap to the pinnacle of his sport, something he acknowledged with reference to the difficulty of this year's race.
"We're finishing in Paris with a top-five result. For me and my team, that's a damn fine accomplishment," van Garderen also told USA Today's Torin Koos.
BERGERAC, FRANCE - JULY 25: Tejay van Garderen of the United States and the BMC Racing Team in action during the nineteenth stage of the 2014 Tour de France, a 208km stage between Maubourguet Pays du Val d'Adour and Bergerac, on July 25, 2014 in Maubour
He has every right to be pleased with finishing it, though, let alone as high in the standings as he did. As Talansky showed, it is not so easy.
Finishing a respectable 17th, Chris Horner was not in France to compete for overall accolades. He was there to gain fitness and support his Lampre-Merida team-mate Rui Costa before the current world champion became another high-profile abandonment.
Horner's schedule only diverted him to the Tour after the 42-year-old's plans to build on his record-breaking Vuelta a Espana success last year were disrupted. That is putting it lightly: He suffered severe injuries after being hit by a car whilst training for the Giro d'Italia.
CHAMROUSSE, FRANCE - JULY 18: Chris Horner of the United States and Lampre-Merida arrives at the finish line in 17th place during the thirteenth stage of the 2014 Tour de France, a 197km stage between Saint-Etienne and Chamrousse, on July 18, 2014 in Cha
For a fleeting moment in France, the prospect of a little glory crossed his mind. On Stage 18, he attacked up the Hautacam, only for Nibali—who likely had not forgotten the elder American pipping him to the Vuelta in 2013—to comprehensively snuff it out.
If the 2014 Tour was a novelty for the much-travelled Horner, he hopes it will be a useful one. Speaking to Cyclingnews' Daniel Benson last week, he said: "I go to the Vuelta for the win. That's for sure. Once you've won before, that’s all you want. It’s a race that’s designed for my type of riding."
Horner will likely face off against a hungry Froome-led Sky and 2014 Giro d'Italia winner Nairo Quintana in Spain. He would do well to conclude the three weeks in Spain once again wearing winner's red.
The Tour de France was a mixed experience for American cycling's current GC hopefuls, but one which they could take positives from. Until the next attempt at the maillot jaune presents itself for one or more of them, there is plenty to keep them occupied.
Giro D'Italia: Is Cadel Evans Primed for His Second Grand Tour Success?
May 19, 2014
Cadel Evans celebrates on the podium after completing the 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy cycling race, from Lugo to Sestola, Italy, Sunday, May 18, 2014. Pieter Weening of the Netherlands edged out Davide Malacarne to win atop the ninth stage of the Giro d'Italia, as Cadel Evans retained the overall lead on Sunday. (AP Photo/Gian Mattia D'Alberto)
Plenty has changed in cycling since Cadel Evans proudly wore the maillot jaune on the top spot of the famous Champs-Elysees podium in 2011.
As it relates to the Australian, Team Sky's dominance through Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome has made repeating his Tour de France victory difficult. Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador are the other most prominent hindrances to leading a general classification over three weeks, while timing and great form blessed then-41-year-old Chris Horner in this format at last year's Vuelta a Espana before it did Evans again.
PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 24: Yellow Jersey winner Cadel Evans (C) of team BMC celebrates with Andy Schleck (L) and Frank Schleck of team Leopard Trek on the podium after the twenty first and final stage of Le Tour de France 2011, from Creteil to the Champs-E
Within the ranks of his BMC team, the 37-year-old has had to deal with another cyclist with GC aspirations, the American Tejay van Garderen. Along with periodic struggles for form and unhelpful niggles, it has all conspired to make yellow in 2011 seem further away than it actually is.
While Evans will always have Paris, the prospect of a second Grand Tour is looking the closest it has since those heady July days in which he cannily saw off the dual threat of the Schleck brothers (a close call that is incidentally looking more and more like a last hurrah for them, especially Andy).
With nine stages of the 2014 Giro d'Italia completed, Evans is the current man in pink, leading second-place Rigoberto Uran Uran of Omega Pharma—Quick-Step by 57 seconds.
Evans has not been shy in expressing his gratitude at the efforts of his team-mates. The above Twitter post followed Stage 8's fifth place, a finish which was more than enough to see him take the pink jersey from compatriot Michael Matthews. "All thanks to the great work the guys have done since we started in Ireland," Evans added on his official website diary.
Evans rode into pink on Stage 8 of this year's Giro after fine work by him and his BMC team in the first trip into the mountains.
The race's move into the mountains on this testing Saturday ultimately took the leader's spot from Orica-GreenEDGE's week-long grasp—Matthews is a stout rider but not a man to lead over the steepest of hills—but BMC did not just accept it—they grabbed it with both hands.
The latest (albeit perhaps temporary) addition to Evans' wardrobe was collected after the aforementioned "great work." The unscathed veteran contentiously forced a split two days earlier on the road to Montecassino after a sequence of awful crashes in which several of his rivals were ensnared.
Where that caused debate, the method behind Stage 8's efforts were commendable rather than controversial.
The ascents of Category 1 climbs up Cippo Di Carpegna and Montecopiolo, with Category 2 Villaggio Del Lago in between, were intriguing rather than thrilling for the GC hopefuls (though the battle for the day's win—which went to Lampre-Merida's Diego Ulissia—certainly made for exciting viewing).
Evans has been ably supported by his BMC team-mates.
The likes of Uran, Movistar's Nairo Quintana, AG2r La Mondiale's Domenico Pozzovivo and former Giro winners Ivan Basso (Cannondale) and Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) all looked comfortable traversing the testing ascents.
Evans looked especially content among this bunch.
Victory at last month's Giro del Trentino as well as some promising showings in January's Tour Down Under suggest he has been feeling good for sometime. He also has as potentially strong a team around him as he has had since joining BMC in 2010.
Swiss rider Steve Morabito was right up there with Evans on Stage 8, powering up the sharp inclines. Longtime Euskaltel-Euskadi man Samuel Sanchez found the going a little tougher, but the experienced climber was close enough to suggest he could yet prove useful for his team leader.
The misfortune which has befallen several riders already in a crash-strewn Giro will serve as a warning to the BMC boys not to get complacent with two weeks of racing still ahead. Nonetheless, they will be encouraged by their start and Evans' lead.
Evans has enjoyed the best Giro so far of the pre-race favourites, which included Nairo Quintana and Ivan Basso (second from and far right respectively).
This tilt at the Giro has been planned by Evans since at least last summer. Speaking last August via The Guardian, he declared his intention to focus on Italy's Grand Tour rather than taking on the Tour de France again.
With Contador's, Froome's and Nibali's sights trained on July, Evans is not having to contend with the strongest possible competition. Nonetheless, the typically grueling course and the calibre of those competing ensure that if Evans is to improve on his career-best third (2013) in the Giro, he will have earned it.
Pozzovivo's late attack on Sunday to regain some seconds on the race leader was a reminder of the challenges which remain.
For his part, Evans was under no illusion as to what he would need to win when he spoke to the inCycle TV pre-race (video above):
For me to get on the top step of the podium it is going to take a very, very consistent and climbing ability to be with the best climbers every day in the mountains. It is a very mountainous Giro, and I think that is going to be key, being consistent in the mountaintop finishes. And there are many of those.
The next substantial test of this assessment, and perhaps Evans' Giro credentials (though a time trial also takes place before it), comes this Saturday over 162 kilometers to Oropa, with four climbs at Category 3 or higher to test the legs.
Tour De France 2012 Results: Tejay Van Garderen's Effort Bodes Well for Future
Jul 22, 2012
American cyclist Tejay van Garderen didn't win the 2012 Tour de France—that honor went to Britain's Bradley Wiggins—but the 23-year-old Washington native showed that a changing of the guard is imminent among United States cyclists.
Once Lance Armstrong retired, there wasn't much hope for American cycling. The man who had won seven consecutive Tour de France competitions is now gone from the sport and currently battling doping allegations from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that could destroy everything he established by winning cycling's greatest race seven consecutive times.
Regardless of what the future holds for Armstrong, his reputation has certainly been tarnished. There's no way around that.
Fortunately for Americans, van Garderen is well on his way to assuming the role of America's next best cyclist. The BMC Racing Team member finished in fifth place in the 2012 rendition of the Tour de France, which is more than anybody expected one of cycling's brightest young stars to do.
At the ripe age of 23, a cyclist isn't supposed to be finely tuned enough to shoot up the leaderboard early on and hold his place there. Inexperience is supposed to wreak havoc on a rider's chances at hanging around among the world's best.
The competition's white jersey winner finished just over 11 minutes behind winner Bradley Wiggins. He proved that the rest of the sport should keep an eye on him.
For those who aren't up on their cycling accolades, the white jersey is awarded to the competition's best rider under 25 years old. In just his second Tour de France, van Garderen was awarded the honor of the Tour's best young cyclist, and it was much deserved.
Wiggins was able to win the Tour de France, but he's not going to be atop the world of cycling forever. He's 32 years old, and there are plenty of riders chomping at the bit to dethrone the race's newest champion.
Van Garderen didn't win, nor should he have. There is a certain hierarchy in cycling, and teams frequently help the best rider on the squad win. It's not a one-man sport like many would expect, but rather a task that is undertaken by a group of cyclists with a common goal.
His time will come. That much is far from debatable. At 23 years old, he has plenty of time to turn his dreams into reality.
Final General Classification Standings (A full leaderboard can be found here.)
On Sunday, Stage 14 saw tacks and nails derail over 30 riders, causing chaos in the pack on their way from Limoux to Foix 47...
2012 Tour De France Stage 14: Sabotage and Sportsmanship Shade Sanchez Victory
Jul 15, 2012
Sabotage marred Stage 14 of the 2012 Tour de France as race radio and The Telegraphreported tacks on the road playing havoc with riders and saw Cadel Evans require assistance on no less than four occasions.
The stage featured two Category 1 climbs over the Port de Lers and the previously unchallenged Mur de Peguere and a long fast run to the finish line.
Out at the front a breakaway group established early, as is tradition, that included some of cycling’s elite—although not necessarily Tour contenders—joined by a cheeky upstart in the green jersey.
Philippe Gilbert, Sandy Casar and Louis Leon Sanchez were joined by the unlikely figure of Peter Sagan, the man who is leading the sprinter’s point classification. Sagan somehow stayed in touch over both of the monster climbs.
The real story of the day, however, had nothing to do with the head of the race.
It had everything to do with a spate of flat tires apparently brought about by some tool spreading tacks on the road, but also a rare example of the sportsmanship that occasionally pays a visit to the Tour de France.
Cadel Evans had the day from Hell.
He suffered a puncture as he approached the summit of the final climb and because the peloton had become strung out, there was no service car available to help him. Sadly, neither was there a teammate and when one did appear, he too had a puncture and couldn’t pass on his wheel to Evans.
Not that the misfortune ended there.
Evans had to change the rear wheel again—the footage of the mechanic falling over in the ditch will become a YouTube sensation—and then had a front wheel puncture.
Meanwhile Bradley Wiggins held his group to try to allow Evans to catch up, however the run of bad luck meant that the group couldn’t continue to wait because Europcar’s Pierre Rolland chose an opportune moment to try to gain some time.
Whether Rolland wasn’t aware what was happening, chose an opportune moment to have a language issue, but eventually the message got through and Rolland ended up back in the pack about a minute before Evans and the BMC team caught up and also rejoined the bunch.
Most disturbingly, Astana rider, Robert Kiserlovski, crashed not long after the summit and was taken to hospital with a suspected broken collarbone according to The Telegraph's live blog. If that was as a result of a puncture brought about by a tack, the idiot responsible should face criminal charges.
Luis Leon Sanchez comfortably won the stage ahead of the remarkable Peter Sagan, but neither will get the press that they deserve as the story will be the sabotage and the sportsmanship.
Wiggins, Team Sky, and every other team who took part did the sport justice and showed the respect that Cadel Evans, as last year’s winner, deserved. With all of the bad press that cycling gets, you would hope that this story gets the coverage it deserves.
Tomorrow, however, all bets are off and the race will be back on in earnest. They’ll all be enemies again.
2012 TDF: Tejay Van Garderen and Chris Froome Get a Tough Lesson in Pro Cycling
Jul 13, 2012
The harsh realities of being a domestique on a professional cycling team were hammered home to two of the sport’s rising stars during Stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France.
Team Sky’s Chris Froome and BMC’s Tejay van Garderen are both the go-to guys for their leaders—Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans respectively—particularly when the going gets tough. They are on hand to provide someone to draft behind, to drop back to get drinks or even sacrifice their race by handing over their bike should disaster strike.
The one thing they can’t do is challenge for a stage win.
As the Tour had its toughest day so far, both young guns had an outstanding day on the tortuous climbs through the Swiss Alps. At no stage did they look in trouble on the climbs and they both sat at the side (or often just in front) of their team leader for the entire stage.
And that’s a pity.
Both riders were obviously having a much better day than their respective leaders, indeed both had to sit up on occasion to wait for their leaders to catch up.
For Van Garderen, he was forced to back off the pace when the aborted breakaway with Evans fell apart and then again when Evans cracked on the final climb of the day. He had to sacrifice a potential stage win and missed the opportunity to increase his lead in the young rider white jersey classification.
For Froome, the frustration was even more evident as he had to be told to back off as Wiggins had become unhitched from the bunch as other riders responded to Froome’s attack.
In a post-stage interview aired on SBS Australia (click here to watch), Froome was asked about the day’s stage and being asked to wait. After giving what was a fairly honest answer about the circumstances, he was asked to compare himself with Wiggins, “On current form, right here and now, which of you is the strongest rider?”
Froome’s answer is a study in damning someone with faint praise. “Bradley is definitely stronger, he is without a doubt the team leader, and er, we’re all here to support him.” While the words were almost toeing the corporate line the attitude made it very clear that he wasn’t a happy camper.
Van Garderen was somewhat more circumspect when he was interviewed post-stage (on the same video as previous),
“I learned what it truly is to sacrifice yourself, I mean, today was a day that you just really have to rally around your leader and, er, stick with him no matter what and that is what I came here to do and that is what I did.”
He went on to acknowledge that he could have finished with a much better result, but accepts the realities of professional cycling and the roles within a team. Besides, he knows that he has a long career ahead of him and is the obvious heir-apparent at BMC.
Professional cycling is a monarchy, not a democracy. It has kings with absolute power and if you’re not happy with that, change teams or quit—if you’re good enough your coronation will come soon enough.
Froome and Van Garderen will definitely be kings one day very soon.
2012 Tour De France Stage 11: Cadel Evans Cracks, Bradley Wiggins Extends Lead
Jul 12, 2012
Bradley Wiggins answered his critics as he took on and beat his closest rival and may well have secured victory in the 2012 Tour de France
Stage 11 France had all the potential to be one of the pivotal stages of this year’s race.
The combination of two climbs that are outside categorisation—over the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Croix de Fer—the second category Col du Mollard and a mountaintop finish at the top of the first category La Toussuire.
It was a stage begging for an attack.
And BMC’s Cadel Evans didn’t disappoint. And then he did.
After an early attack by 25 riders, the peloton took a relatively leisurely approach to the Col de la Madeleine. None of the riders in the lead group were serious threats and so Team Sky were comfortable leaving them with a three-minute break.
The brutal Col de la Croix de Fer was always the logical place to launch an attack and it was here that BMC orchestrated their first tentative shot at fracturing the Team Sky stranglehold.
Tejay van Garderen was the first BMC rider to make a break. Team Sky again remained impassive as the Tour’s white jersey holder disappeared into the distance.
With 65 km to go, there came a move that Team Sky couldn’t ignore. Cadel Evans burst free from the pack and quickly established a 20-second lead and joined up with the cleverly positioned van Garderen.
The combination looked like they may be able to break free, but Michael Rogers upped the pace at the head of the Team Sky train and it quickly became apparent that the Evans move was not going to crack Bradley Wiggins and so the attack was abandoned to conserve energy for an attack at a later date.
While the climbs of these mountains are slow brutally tough, the descents are insanely quick and very, very scary. One slight misjudgement and the roads will bite—as Europcar’s Pierre Rolland found out the hard way on the descent of the Col du Mollard.
And so the stage came down to the last climb of the day.
With the lead group now whittled down to just four riders (Pierre Rolland, Robert Kiserlovski, Chris Anker Sorensen, Vasili Kirylenka) none of whom were a threat to the leaders, the group containing Wiggins and Evans didn’t feel the need to chase them down.
With 11km to go, Vincenzo Nibali took the opportunity to break free of the Wiggins group and make his bid to recover his third place by regaining time.
The attack was soon reeled in only for Nibali to catch his breath and then attack again.
This time he caught a small goup containing Jurgen Van Den Broek, Thibaut Pinot and Janez Brajkovic and the break became established.
With five kilometres to go, the unthinkable happened. Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins chased down and caught Nibali’s breakaway and in doing so, cracked Cadel Evans.
As Evans fell away, Froome decided to attack Nibali and Wiggins faltered and looked to be in trouble until the message came though from the team car for Froome to wait until Wiggins recovered.
We have the quite strange situation where the two favourites were being upstaged by their younger teammates—Wiggins by Froome and Evans by van Garderen.
As Rolland crossed the line to become the second Frenchman in two days to claim a stage victory, the interesting results still lay at the top of the leaderboard.
Wiggins, Froome and Nibali crossed the line together, but Evans lost nearly 1:30 on the leaders and now the gap is insurmountable. It will be hard for Evans to recover and finish the Tour in style, regardless of his chances of victory.
Wiggins, on the other hand, just needs to not make a mistake. It will take something remarkable to prevent Wiggins wearing yellow on the Champs Elysees on Sunday week.
USADA's Investigation Rumored to Hand Down 6-Month Suspensions to Witnesses
Jul 5, 2012
The fallout from a looming USADA investigation into seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong continues, with several 2012 Tour de France riders being repeatedly pestered about the ongoing investigation.
Several of Armstrong’s former teammates are rumored to have received shortened six-month doping suspensions—to begin later this season—in exchange for testifying against Armstrong (via CyclingNews).
According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, those riders include Garmin-Sharp’s Dave Zabriskie and Christina Vande Velde, Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s Levi Leipheimer and BMC rider George Hincapie.
Garmin-Sharp CEO Jonathan Vaughters also would be given a temporary ban. Vaughters and his team are on the forefront of anti-doping in cycling, and welcome open dialogue with anti-doping agencies:
But the basic premise of the statement: we demand honesty from everyone in slipstream if contacted by anti-doping authorities.
Here is what Team Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider Leipheimer had to say:
“I really don’t have anything to say. All I can say is that I am here at the Tour de France, I am 100 percent focused on this race. So far I am still in the hunt for the classification. That is all I have to say.”
Hincapie also said his focus is on racing the Tour, and is temporarily ignoring everything else (via AFP):
“I’m just disappointed this is being brought up once again. I’ve always tried to do the right thing for the sport. Right now I’m here to do my job and I’m going to try and focus on that. BMC’s got nothing to do with this, Cadel is obviously here to try and win the Tour and I’m going to try and help him do that.”
The USADA hopes to punish Armstrong for participating in a systematic doping program while riding for U.
USADA CEO Travis Tygart noted witness bullying “cannot be tolerated,” (via VeloNews):
“USADA’s investigation into doping in the sport of cycling continues. No individual cases have been finalized, and any attempt to guess at whom potential witnesses might be only leads to inaccurate information being reported and subjects those named to unnecessary scrutiny, threats and intimidation,” Tygart said through an e-mail Thursday morning.”
Meanwhile, Armstrong spoke out against the USADA’s "selective prosecution," speaking out angrily to the Associated Press:
“So let me get this straight… come in and tell them exactly what they wanted to hear and you get complete immunity AND anonymity? I never got that offer. This isn’t about Tygart wanting to clean up cycling—rather it’s just plain ol’ selective prosecution that reeks of vendetta.”
Sadly, it looks like a publicly perceived vendetta against Armstrong will negatively impact some of the rider’s former teammates—as they try to remain focused on competing in the 2012 Tour.
If the U.S. federal government dropped its case against Armstrong, I’m not entirely sure what the USADA would be able to gain from this investigation. Armstrong could be stripped of his Tour de France victories—but more shockingly, witnesses in the case still in the professional peloton would also suffer.
This seems less like an investigation for justice, and rather like a witch hunt to punish Armstrong to any extent possible.
