We all know Cadel doesn't attack... so it must have been a mistake

An unfortunate error, as in "hey, where did the other riders go, Philippe?", or was it Philippe's idea and Cadel just went along with it? As the media experts have reminded us often, he just doesn't attack ;-)

Silence-Lotto's Philippe Gilbert and Cadel Evans put in a strong attack and crested the summit 15 seconds ahead of their pursuers with only 11.3 kilometres remaining.

We can at least say they both have some form, although they weren't able to hold off the chasers in the end.

Now he attacks: Cadel Evans just can't win

In hindsight, it may have been the wrong time to attack... but then again, who was going to bridge the gap if he didn't? As Cadel says, "Funny, usually people tell me I don't attack...".

Post-race it's always easy to pull things apart and make declarations about what would have happened if.... but until we can set up some parallel universe and trial all of the options, we'll never really know. At 5th, Evans was ahead of some big names. (Worth noting too that Simon Gerrans had another good race, finishing 8th.)

And come July we'll get to see Cadel defend his now traditional 2nd place in Le Tour. He may even attack!

Great work, CSC - maybe

And nice work Simon Gerrans: Schleck had trailed Evans by just one second going into the 15th stage, and ended the day with a seven-second lead over Bernhard Kohl, who headed home the chasing pack behind the breakaway group. The rest day has come at the right time for Evans, so don't write him off yet. Kohl was fifth over the line, and now has a one-second advantage over Evans, who has dropped to third in the overall standings. Gerrans produced a perfectly timed late surge to secure his stage win..

A great stage? Maybe. Actually I don't particularly like to see days like this. It smells like bad sportsmanship, a bit like the old US Postal 'launch' move, but not as obvious. Here we see 3 CSC guys basically gang up (it's called 'teamwork', ha ha) on one isolated guy in yellow - a typical bully-boy gang thing to do. It's great that CSC has a strong team, and that they play to win. I'm sure they are all great guys, too. There's also no law against being good, or great, or working as a team. Indeed at this level of the sport collusion like this is accepted and indeed encouraged. I just don't like to see it.

Thankfully CSC individually are weaker in ITTs - which will even things out. And sure, it's all part of the game and gripping to watch - but I personally like to see a select group of individuals fight it out, man to man (or woman to woman or whatever you prefer). It's just a bit pathetic - akin to bullying - to see 3 guys - in this case Sastre and the Schleck brothers - take turns in attacking Evans (or whoever it may be tomorrow).

OTOH it was a joy to watch Menchov attack - and what a move it was! What a shame he took that slippery bend too quick - and too tightly - and ended on the deck. To my mind it's Menchov vs Evans in this race and only the unexpected or CSC can break it up. Rest day, then back to it.

Just my opinion.

Le Tour: efforts unrewarded - yet?

I had mixed feelings about a stiff and sore Evans hanging tough in what proved a punishing but not decisive stage 10. What were Riis and CSC on about? Yes, it was impressive teamwork. Yes, they have some amazing riders and at least 2 GC contenders, but what were they expecting? To drop everyone on the flat? Or was the plan simply to dislodge Cunego and Valverde on the first climb and then keep them behind? Was that the plan? To thin the field?

Or were they hoping to hurt an injured Evans? Or all of the above? It seemed that CSC were scheming and hammering to little effect, other than exhausting Voigt and Cancellara. Sure, they got close to launching someone, but it didn't really happen. We all knew that Sastre wasn't going to get away, surely? So was the real plan to boost Schleck up the leaderboard? At least they achieved that, if little else. A puzzled Menchov saw both sides: On the climb to Hautacam CSC went on the attack with Carlos Sastre and eventually got Fränk Schleck away. "It's a little bit strange [what CSC did]," Menchov said. "Well, it's not really strange since CSC had to try. In the end it worked out well for them."

Although the rest day will help them - and everyone - recover, in essence it was a big tactical and power display for small reward - with most of the racing still ahead. They have indeed removed some threats, but will the Sastre-Schleck 1-2 punch be enough when Ricco is sitting on, waiting to pounce?

Ahhhh, crystal ball time. One Pyrennean stage to go. Ricco grabs another win. Ricco edges closer on GC. Evans lets the golden fleece go, hoping to get it back in week 3. Schleck and Menchov battle it out in the Alps. Sastre tries to get away, but is marked. Ricco gets away, grabs more time. Indeed, bring on the Alps. And that delicious, long time trial..

Le Tour turns on a crash?

I've had some "memory" pain in my right shoulder this Aussie Winter from a fall I had last year - which was on top of a much worse fall I had on the same shoulder in 1988... when I clipped the wheel of another rider who decided in an instant that the right side of the bunch was somehow better than the left. Of course I shouldn't have overlapped his wheel, but when you have momentum after coming off the slight rise and swooping right turn into Heffron Park's main straight you sometimes close up a bit as the lead riders hit the wind. So I was in the wrong place when that sudden move happened. I gather Cadel Evans faced a similar situation in yesterday's stage, unless the plastic bag in the front wheel story is actually true. Whatever caused it, Cadel will be stiff and sore in the next stage. It doesn't matter how tough you are, you still feel pain and lose some agility for a few days.

Valverde had his bad luck last week and has had time to recover. Evans may not be so lucky as he faces the Pyrennees and almost certain attacks. I won't blame him for cracking just a bit and losing time. It may be better than pushing too far and losing far more. He can afford to lose a minute or 2, but no more.

Meanwhile Ricco has lived up to expectations: Italy's Riccardo Riccò opened up the throttle to distance his rivals on the Tour de France's Col d'Aspin in a move similar to the late Marco Pantani to gain a solo win in Bagnères de Bigorre. The chase including classification favourites finished over a minute behind Riccò and included race leader Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia) and a bruised Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), who crashed on the decent of the Col de Peyresourde.

Oh how I wish he - or a clean Pantani - had been around when Lance was racing.

It's that time again

Everyone knows it's July, and July means Le Tour. And everyone who cares knows that Cadel Evans came 2nd last year, and as the winner isn't in the game this year that leaves Evans as the 'favourite'. However anyone who has ridden a bike for 3 consecutive weeks, no matter how far or how fast, knows that you can have one or 2 bad days at just the wrong time. You can catch a cold, or fall, or just get dropped and not get back. Although Armstrong made it look ridiculously easy to get 7 in a row, he did have bad days. He also had a great team and a great deal of luck, especially considering almost everyone he beat was doping. But it's not so simple any more. There are no dopes, hopefully, and no stand-outs either.

So after this 3-week-long lottery on wheels it could be Evans, or Valverde, or Menchov. Or we may get another Pereiro from out of the blue. Let's just hope we don't get a Landis, a Vinokourov or a Rasmussen.

Evans attacks, 2nd time this year!

Kidding. As I've said before, he attacks when he thinks he has an advantage, not because it's his only tactic. Evans plays a strategic game in his races, mulling over the pros and cons whilst digging deep to counter important moves. Well, that's how most riders do it, too. But he has the engine to launch decisive attacks, which is not the case for every rider. So there are expectations.

Anyway, he launched but lost. It was close. It confirms his form and his motivation. It was worth a shot. Kim Kirchen won instead, Cadel 2nd, Cunego 3rd. Read CN's report of the Arrow of Wallonne here: With Efimkin exhausted, Wegmann pressed on solo and held a 20-second advantage to the final kilometre. But he quickly succumbed to the savage gradients of the Mur as Evans blasted past with 400 metres remaining. Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), Cunego, Joaquím Rodríguez (Caisse d'Epargne) and Kirchen were all in tow as the 31 year-old Australian fought hard with Amstel Gold winner Cunego and last year's winner Rebellin.

BTW, Contador beat Evans in finale

Does it really matter? In the final 20km TT Contador - despite suffering "dental problems" was able to overcome Evans and the rest to secure his home race. I guess that's important - it was his home race after all. As well, Evans is building up to July so should still be off the pace, particularly in a short TT that doesn't play to his strengths. Looked at in that light Evans must be pretty pleased with his form.

From CN: Astana's Alberto Contador overcame a week of personal challenges and continued his dominating performance in the Vuelta al País Vasco to win the final stage and the overall classification. In the stage six 20 km time trial, the Spaniard won by 22 seconds over Australian Cadel Evans, from Silence-Lotto. Rabobank's Thomas Dekker was third, 27 seconds back . Evans and Dekker also finished second and third in the overall.

Kirchen wins, waves to teammate

Well he could have. Off in a break, caught at last gasp, your teammate snatches the win. Well yes, Kirchen had to take it, I know, it just seems wrong somehow. Meanwhile, as CN reports,
overall leader Alberto Contador maintained his slim three second lead over Ezequiel Mosquera (Karpin Galicia). The main breakaway of the day, with Possoni, Australian champion Matthew Lloyd (Silence Lotto) and Basque rider Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel – Euskadi) was caught with just 50 metres to the line, and mixed in with the bunch gallop with Possoni coming second, Lloyd fifth and Txurruka in seventh.

There's another chance at a glorious GC-splitting breakaway tomorrow, but with little change on GC since day 1 it's not looking good. It may end in the TT... Evans is just 8 secs back on Contador. Hmmm. Unless someone gets away in the next stage on paper it's an Evans win, but then again with 44 riders within a minute of the lead anything is possible.

Contador versus Evans?

What does it matter? Contador can't defend in July, so it's just a non-event. Or is it? It's a minor side-show at least. Can Contador demonstrate that he should be in a team at Le Tour? Can Evans maintain the roll he's on? Does he want to beat Contador (and the rest)? Or is it all about fine-tuning the Silence-Lotto team for July?

I'd go for a mix of all of the above. Alberto Contador (Astana), virtually lost his GC lead to compatriot Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel Euskadi) out on the road, but thanks to the work of his team, he remained in yellow at the end of the day with a five-second margin on Ezequiel Mosquera (Karpin Galicia). Evans is down 8 seconds, as are many others.

See, he does too attack

He told us so. He does attack. Cadel wins again, on a mountain, and takes the lead on GC. Lookin' good.

Australian Cadel Evans continues his hot streak in 2008's early season by winning Coppi e Bartali's stage three, 189 kilometres from Scandiano to Pavullo. The 32 year-old of Silence-Lotto, second last year in the Tour de France, put in an attack with nine kilometres remaining on the mountain-top finish of Valico di Gaiato, distancing overnight race leader Stefano Garzelli (Acqua Sapone-Caffè Mokambo), Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and Niklas Axelsson (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli). By taking 32 seconds on Garzelli, Evans becomes the new leader of the five-day stage race.

Worth mentioning that mountain goat Matt Lloyd stuck with him most of the way and lies 6th overall. Bileka, de Greef and Cioni were also strong in close support - another good sign that Cadel truly has total team support now. Roll on July.

Evans takes Ventoux

Cadel Evans confirmed his form is good on Mount Ventoux, taking the latest mountain stage of Paris-Nice. Gesink, 2nd on this stage, leads overall - but for how long? GC is again shaken up, Evans riding in support of Popovych and helping him up the leaderboard, now just 42 secs in arrears. Sanchez and Chavenal both cracked on the climb and lost time - too much to recover. Rebellin and Popovych look like the chief contenders now.

The Top 20 now looks like this (via CN): 1 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 17.10.12
2 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0.32
3 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale 0.35
4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence-Lotto 0.42
5 Juan Manuel Gárate (Spa) Quick Step 1.06
6 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.06
7 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.11
8 Alexander Efimkin (Rus) Quick Step 2.30
9 Clément L'Hottelerie (Fra) Skil-Shimano 3.25
10 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 3.27
11 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre 3.32
12 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Quick Step 4.07
13 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4.48
14 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Crédit Agricole 6.02
15 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis 6.11
16 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto 6.40
17 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Agritubel 8.12
18 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre 8.18
19 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 8.57
20 Eduardo Gonzalo (Spa) Agritubel 9.08

Short takes on early season racing

• Cadel Evans had this to say to CyclingNews on his Paris-Nice ambitions: Evans reckons he might be at 75 percent of his best condition right now. "Ask me again after the stage up the Ventoux," he said. So this is really a pre-Tour de France test for him. Even without pressure he might give it a go. The past two winners of Paris-Nice, Floyd Landis and Alberto Contador have finished in yellow on the Champs-Élysées after that... with different fortunes later on.
• David Millar on his Paris-Nice and his Slipstream team ambitions:Millar began the Paris-Nice on Sunday with two clear objectives in mind. "The goal is to be on the podium on GC and win the prologue," he said in the lead up to the race. While the second of those targets didn't work out, with the rider finishing 12th in the time trial in Amilly, he was relatively positive about his ride afterwards. "There are few things worse than having a chrono performance compromised because of the weather," he said on the Slipstream team website, referring to the day's rain. "Considering I was one of the last to go before it started drying out more, I'm satisfied with my result. Trent [Lowe] and Danny [Pate] did great rides and Trent put considerable time on the other climbers."
• And for something completely different try this short piece on climbing technique, including some insights from Chechu Rubiera (via PezCyclingNews):Climbing is either one of your strengths or a “painful annoyance” to be dealt with on the way to the finish where you may be able to utilize your sprint (assuming you have some strength left). How many times have you heard a sprinter say they just need to get over a climb and get to the finish line with the main group? Or a climber says, I have to get away from the sprinters on the climb so I have a chance to win the race.
  

Bad weather mars shortened Paris-Nice stage

It's hard enough just racing without the weather competing for attention as well. Bad weather. Wind and rain. Lots of wind and rain. Still, Gert Steegmans got through OK and took the win. Thor still leads and the top 15 looks like this (via CN):
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 2.26.55
2 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step 0.06
3 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.12
4 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC
5 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 0.17
6 Trent Lowe (Aus) Slipstream Chipotle - H30 0.18
7 David Millar (GBr) Slipstream Chipotle - H30 0.20
8 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step 0.21
9 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.22
10 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0.24
11 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram 0.25
12 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux
13 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Liquigas 0.26
14 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Crédit Agricole
15 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank

Full ASO results here.

The winner had this to say (from the ASO site):Yes. I thought 10 kms to take some of my clothes off, which was a good choice ; When a sprint is a little uphill, every gram can count. In Belgium we’re used to cold and rain but it was really hard today. I was a little lucky, but it’s mission accomplished. One or two other stages might finish in sprints but the rest is probably too hard. The Ventoux will just be a nice leisurely ride for me.

Nice to see Lowe and Millar still up there and equally good to see Sanchez and Gerrans coming through. Flecha and Van Summeren have crept up as well. It's worth noting that the field spilt in the bad weather and inevitable crashes, forcing riders like Evans and Voigt to lose time. No confirmation yet on who has fallen or dropped from the race, however Brad McGee is currently not figuring in the results. (Update: ASO reports he came in at 42nd place.) It will be interesting to see these riders climb back up the GC... if they can.

Evans takes win on day 2

You train your heart out but can't be sure until race-day. You hold back and start easy in a multi-stage race with good team support. The first day goes OK so you take a few of your teammates into an early break. It's a tough day and you work hard, but then you see a chance to win, so you go for it. Well it's really a personal fantasy of mine to be race-fit straight out of the box, yet it seems to be do-able if Cadel is any guide.

Last year's Tour de France runner-up, Cadel Evans, has taken an early season victory after winning the second stage of the 54th Vuelta a Andalucía. His win in just his second day of competition this year, proves the 31 year-old Australian's training during the off-season was not hampered by the many commitments he had with various charities and other functions. It also indicates that his preparation is right on schedule as for his assault on the 2008 Tour de France where he is a noted favourite after Astana's non selection, which leaves last year's first and third placed riders, Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer out of the coming edition.

Evans leads the CQ rankings

The what? The CQ rankings, for Cycling Quotient, a la IQ. Hmmm. Well it's designed to plug a gap that the UCI left when they opted for the ProTour, anyway. And now Aussie Cadel Evans leads both the ProTour and the CQ standings.

The CQ is comprehensive and gives us loads of stats on every pro race, all year long. Can't be bad, eh?

ProTour winner Evans on his season

Cadel Evans seems the least-rated contender no matter where or when he is racing. He's generally acknowledged as one of several contenders but always with a qualification of some sort. Either someone else is stronger or has won more recently, or Evans is tired, or perhaps injured. It never seems as though the guy is really likely to win, like Armstrong, Ullrich or Basso were and Bettini, Contador and Di Luca are now. Yet he's so consistent, when he gets the chance. Perhaps it's his quiet demeanor. After such a great 2007 maybe 2008 will be different for Cadel.

Interesting overview of his season, here at Cyclingnews.com.: Cadel Evans won the ProTour classification on Saturday after a consistent stream of steady results over the past four months. Before the Giro di Lombardia, he talked about his performances in the Vuelta a España and world road race championships, the Tour Down Under's graduation to the ProTour calendar, his plans for the months ahead and his Olympic aspirations.

Oh for the want of 14 seconds...

Dramatic, exciting, close and maybe even a touch dangerous.... what more could you want? The Dauphine Libere pulled some surprises this year. Moreau on Ventoux. Haussler's sprint. Astana's broad strength. And not only did Moreau get the GC, we had a dramatic final stage where Leipheimer got away, only to crash, leaving Vino alone to win the stage. And overall it was Cadel Evans just 14 secs back from the winner.

Meanwhile in Switzerland Zabel is flying! Another stage win, with a Cat 3 col taking the sting out of McEwen's legs. Bring on Le Tour!

And Ben Day won Beauce on GC in what was an impressive defensive action by the Navigators squad.