Third overall in the second half of the Tour de France and to the fore of the GC contenders, Cadel Evans knows that he could take the yellow jersey once again on Saturday’s fourteenth stage of the race. He previously held it for five days in 2008 and then for one day last year; he is poised to strike once again, as he is currently sitting two minutes and six seconds behind Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) and just 17 seconds off the time of Frank Schleck (Leopard Trek).
While Voeckler has a useful buffer, the Frenchman is not known as a big GC rider in the Grand Tours. Although he rode unexpectedly well on Luz Ardiden, Saturday’s tough parcours and difficult final climb could see him conceding the lead, even if he will battle hard all the way to the finish in order to try to retain the Maillot Jaune.
Evans says that all the GC riders know that Saturday could be a big decider, and that influenced how they competed in the race to Lourdes. “I think everyone is pretty tired from yesterday,” he told media at the finish today, responding to a question put to him by SBS. “Tomorrow is a big day, Plateau de Beille. It is a long climb after a hard day. I think everyone raced without too much nervousness [on Friday]. For the GC guys it is one thing, but then there are races for points and the stage win. It was more their thing today.”
He elaborated on that point to Fox. “It was more a race for the points and the stage win. The GC guys were trying to save our reserves for tomorrow and recover a bit from yesterday,” he said. “There will be fireworks tomorrow, don’t worry.”
The BMC Racing Team rider is one of the most experienced in the peloton, and generally has a good racing instinct and understanding of the sport. He knows that it would be erroneous to base predictions on what happened on Thursday; essentially, he believes it is early days yet, and that it would be wrong to write anyone off. “I think some guys are still improving, like Sanchez and Basso,” he stated. “There will still be changes, it is not like it is going to be a repeat of yesterday every day.
As has been cited a lot in recent days, the past winners on Plateau de Beille have each gone on to take the overall victory in the Tour de France. Marco Pantani was the first in 1998, Lance Armstrong achieved the stage win/GC triumph in 2002 and 2004, then Alberto Contador did the same in 2007. Cyclists are generally prone to superstitions but Evans doesn’t let this have any bearing on how he will approach the stage. Whatever happens Saturday, he believes he has a good chance.
“If I don’t win tomorrow, I am not going to give up trying to win the Tour,” he told SBS. “Put it that way. It is going to be a pretty important day for sure. It is going to be one of the key days. We have got tomorrow and a couple of others in the Alps. We will see…”