After almost a decade trying to win a Grand Tour, Australian rider Cadel Evans will pull off that achievement today when he rides into Paris as the winner of the biggest one of all, the Tour de France. The BMC Racing Team competitor seized the yellow jersey in yesterday’s final time trial of the race, grabbing the Maillot Jaune after hovering near the top of the general classification for the entire Tour.
Whether by accident or design, he missed out on grabbing yellow by slender margins earlier in the race. This kept the pressure off his team, which never had the burden of having to defend the jersey. It rode on the front when required, but the evolution of the race meant that other riders and teams were often those who had to take the bulk of the responsibility.
After defending impressively in Thursday’s mountain stage to Galiber Serre Chevalier, where he was the strongest of those chasing Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek), and again on Friday’s stage to Alpe d’Huez, where he bounced back after a mechanical problem saw him lose time early on to his big rivals, he sealed his win in yesterday’s time trial. He scorched the course, taking a very close second to Tony Martin (HTC Highroad), and taking a full two minutes 38 seconds out of Schleck. The net result was that he ended the day one minute 34 seconds ahead in the general classification.
“I had a good day today, not good enough to win the stage, but the classification,” he smiled in his post race conference. “This is exactly where we wanted to be going into Paris.”
The final time trial was of crucial importance, allowing him to overhaul Schleck. The Leopard Trek rider and his brother Frank opted to ride the Tour de Suisse instead of the Critérium du Dauphiné; the latter race featured a time trial over precisely the same route, enabling Evans to have prior knowledge of what was required yesterday.
“When we raced the Dauphine on this course, I saw that if you came here with good legs in the third week of a Tour, you could really do some damage,” he explained. “It is a really tough course for a final time trial. The time trial in the third week of a Tour is different to any other…you get here so exhausted that just a little bit of energy reserves can go a long way. With this course being even more difficult than normal, that situation is probably amplified somewhat.”
Schleck has never performed as strongly as rivals like Evans in time trials and while he said beforehand that he could limit his losses sufficiently to keep the Maillot Jaune, that proved not to be the case. Evans was able to put in a scorching ride, despite some tough days before.
“Yesterday I had to expend a bit of energy, the day before I had to expend some extra energy, but this morning I was feeling okay in our little training ride, he said, referring to the stages to Galiber Serre Chevalier and the Alpe d’Huez. “But it’s a time trial…just go..!”
The Australian then talked about his career progression, starting with his near-miss in his Grand Tour debut in the 2002 Giro d’Italia. “I held the leaders jersey until nine kilometres of the last climb. I hadn’t the time to make the full adaption to a road rider from a mountain biker, the different intensity and endurance and so on,” he said, describing his dramatic collapse in that event.
He traced his career progression from that point, mentioning his eighth place in first Tour de France, his fourth places in 2006, then his second place the following year. “Second for 23 seconds…it was so close against Contador, who had a really good day on the last day,” he recounted. “He had a good moment over the Peyresourde, where he had two team-mates in the breakaway, where he got a 40 or 50 seconds gap. That is one place where I look back on that Tour de France and that is where it cost me.”
Evans explained that he lost the 2008 Tour because of a crash, which cost him the energy he needed to take the jersey from Carlos Sastre. Once again, he had to be content with second overall. Two years later, another crash ruined his time in the yellow jersey, with his arm fracture leading to a big loss in time.
Pays tribute to Aldo Sassi, won’t comment on cleanliness of the sport
Evans was asked if there was anyone in particular that he wanted to dedicate his victory to. He spoke of a couple of people, but the most significant was the late Aldo Sassi. He coached the Australian until his untimely death from cancer last winter, and Evans said that he always showed faith in him.
“He often believed in me before I did…for him to be here today…” he said, his voice trailing off as he became very emotional.
“He said to me at one point last year, ‘I am sure you can win a Grand Tour. I hope for you it is the Tour de France because that is the most prestigious Grand Tour, and if you do, you will become the most complete rider of your generation.’” Evans has almost done that now, and Sassi would be proud.
The Italian had the reputation of being a clean coach, and for insisting on the same from those who worked with him. Because if that, it was surprising that Evans declined to comment on a question asking if his win was thanks to the biological passport making the sport cleaner. “I don’t think I am in a good position to comment on that…sorry,” he said.
It was a strange answer and, to be frank, one which didn’t come across well. He later had a chance to expand on it when a French writer put it to him that as the almost-certain winner of the Tour, that it looked bad when he declined to comment on such matters. The journalist’s point was that the top riders have a responsibility to talk about clean cycling if that is what they believe in.
Evans reply was that he didn’t want to speak out on the issue. “I think the best thing I can do as an athlete is to give a good example to others,” he said.
Below is Evans’ post-race press conference. (Please excuse poor sound quality in places!)