Cadel Evans (BMC) finished 11th in stage five of the Tour de France, which ended in a bunch sprint. Evans is not a sprinter but his guideline was to avoid the crashes by staying close to the front. With overall contenders like Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard), Bradley Wiggins (Sky Pro Cycling) or Robert Gesink (Rabobank) all going down, Evans showed that his tactic was well chosen.
Evans has made the experience of crashing away from overall contention in the Tour, so he labored intensely in a difficult stage. "It was really windy, with narrow, winding roads," Evans said. "We worked hard to stay on the front all day." The reason was simple. "I just kept hearing on the radio over and over again, 'crash, crash, crash' and I sort of kept going. Then I saw Gesink all covered in dirt. It was a dangerous day."
It is a day where the Tour won't be won but can be lost. Evans is happy to have some quality teammates, who guide him through the nervous parts. Especially classics specialists Manuel Quinziato and Marcus Burghardt have been an invaluable aid. "They're used to riding the classics and riding in the front all day, and dodging traffic islands is their speciality," Evans said. "I'm very grateful to have them here for that as well as their role in the team."
Evans remains one second behind yellow jersey wearer Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) heading into the longest stage (226.5 km) of this year's race. Evans has finished second twice in the Tour de France, but is hoping that this year he will be able to carry the yellow jersey into Paris.
Evans is in his second year with the American BMC Racing team. His teammates at the Tour are Americans George Hincapie and Brent Bookwalter, German Marcus Burghardt, Frenchman Amaël Moinard, Swiss riders Steve Morabito and Michael Schär, and Italians Manuel Quinziato and Ivan Santaromita.