Cadel Evans gets ganged up on
The big news after this year’s Dauphine Libere is the potential alliance that will be shared at this year’s Tour de France between Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador.Alberto Contador clearly assisted Valverde each time Cadel accelerated off the front of the bunch. Although both riders denied any agreement, their tactics on the climbs to neutralize Evans each time he attacked was quite blatant throughout the closing stages of the Dauphine Libere.
What does this mean for Evans? It’s not great news that’s for sure; if an agreement has been reached to assist each other at big races, between Valverde and Contador, it’s going to make Cadel’s chances of winning his maiden TDF yellow jersey that much slimmer.
Cadel is not one of the most popular riders in the bunch. He has often let his emotions get the better of him and say exactly what’s on his mind. This has not done him any favours because when it comes to the crunch on the big cols at this year’s TDF Cadel will have few if any allies. This matched with a less than impressive Silence-Lotto squad makes Cadel’s job of winning the TDF that much harder.
Stef Clement (Rabobank) won the final 8th stage ahead of Timothy Duggan (Garmin) and Sebastien Joly (FDJ) in a breakaway victory. Australia’s Adam Hansen (Team Columbia-Highroad) finished 4th one minute 31 seconds down on Clement after he was dropped from the breakaway group on the final climb.
Who’s Hot?
Alejandro Valverde has won two big UCI ProTour races in the Dauphine Libere and Volta a Catalunya already this season. His future, however, lies in the hands of the UCI as their decision to extend his Italian doping ban worldwide is decided in the coming week.
Cadel Evans showed strong form throughout the Dauphine Libere. He won the opening time trial and was only a handful of seconds from winning back-to-back time trials finishing second in the Stage 4 TT. The man from Barwon Heads is on target for another podium at this year’s TDF.
Who’s Not?
Stijn Devolder has shown again he needs to stick to the one-day classics. The former Belgian national champion finished over an hour behind Valverde in 108th place on the GC. Belgium may need to look to someone else for a high GC finish at this year’s Tour de France because it’s evident Devolder doesn’t have the legs in the multiple stage races.
Daniel Martin is a young Irish kid with a big future in cycling. It may not eventuate at this year’s Tour de France as we all hoped. The Irish national champion has recorded some very impressive results this season including second behind Valverde at the Volta a Catalunya. The Dauphine Libere is a great indication of how the big TDF contenders are shaping up for the Tour de France and Martin was clearly not up to pace, finishing 32nd over 20 minutes down on Valverde. It won’t do the 23 year olds chances a great deal of good as Garmin Slipstream looks to finalise their TDF squad in the coming weeks.
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Comments (2)
by matthew, 17 June 2009Cadel has no chance at the tour this year. Contador was just messing with them at the Dauphine.
by cyclingmad, 17 June 2009Martin deserves a spot on that garmin tour squad. He has been a solid rider for 2 years now. If you have seen him climb you will want him on your squad.