Lack of team support will have Evans grimacing again in 2009 The 2008 Tour de France was a difficult one for Cadel Evans. Although the Australian was on form and motivated to take to the top step of the podium at the Tour, things didn't work according to plan for the Silence-Lotto leader. A crash in the 9th stage of the Tour slowed Evans down, and he was over matched and outgunned in the high mountains by the powerful CSC team. Using brilliant tactics, CSC was able to isolate Evans during the mountain stages, and attack him ruthlessly until he was unable to follow. The eventual benefactor was Caros Sastre, who took the win on Alpe-d'Huez and never looked back.
As the Tour wound down and Evans fielded question after question about his inability to win the Tour, the Australian bristled at the suggestion that his form was not good enough. To Evans, there was one over riding factor that ed to his shortfall at the 2008 Tour: The team the Silence-Lotto surrounded him with for the three week event. Management was able to secure the services of Yaroslav Popovich to help Evans in the mountains, but the Ukrainian had an off performance at the Tour, and was unable to be of much help to Evans when he needed it most.
When teams came calling for Evans with contract offers in late summer, the Silence-Lotto management vowed to procure more climbers for Cadel's attempt at the 2009 Tour. Feeling confident that he would have a stronger supporting cast in 2009, Evans stayed with Lotto. Initially, things looked good for the Belgian squad, as they were able to sign the Tour KOM leader Bernard Kohl. But a doping positive a few weeks later, followed by an admission of guilt, saw Kohl suspended for two years.
Meanwhile, Popovich too has flown the Silence-Lotto coop, choosing to sign a one year deal with Johan Bruyneel's Astana team. In signing the Dutchman Thomas Dekker ahead of the world championships, Lotto has given Evans a decent support man for the mountains, but Dekker is unproven at the Tour, and also has a history of injuries. So, like in 2008, Evans will have to go to the Tour with an inferior team. If he wants to take top honors in France next July, he'll have to do it with his own legs.
All this is a shame for Evans, and leaves him with little chance at victory in 2009. The soft-spoken Aussie deserves better, and is running out of years to try for the overall win at the Tour. Next year, he'll face a highly motivated Alberto Contador and a stacked team Astana, as well as a more experienced Andy Schleck and his all-powerful Saxo Bank-IT Factory juggernaut. Additionally, last year's winner Carlos Sastre will be back, with a decent SCS TestTeam to support his Tour defence. Somewhere in Australia, Cadel Evans must feel significant frustrations regarding his team choice for 2009. Unfortunately, he'll have no other choice than to ride his heart out again in 2009, and hope that he is able to follow the right wheels. For Evans, 2009 will be another lonely trip in the Tour, with minimal team support, which is too bad.
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6 comments:
Silence-Lotto also signed Charlie Wegelius, one of the best mountain domestiques in the business. Witness his awesome work at the Giro and elsewhere in the last few seasons for Liquigas. Much under-rated as a reliable guy to have around and never shirks doing what's asked. Also this is a guy who finished 45th as a domestique in 2007 at his first attempt. Expect to see him in front of Cadel a lot. The sort of rider I'd want protecting my team leader
Whilst there is a fair degree of veracity in the original post, the situation is not quite as bleak as painted. The loss of Kohl (an obvious major player in the mountains) is a major blow but Silence DID also sign Sebastian Lang from the Gerolsteiner stable. If my recollection is correct, he was 6th in the KOM standings from 08 Tour. Wegelius, I expect, will at minimum deliver more value than Cioni.
Whilst he certainly hasn't an Astana outfit around him, methinks he will be considerably better supported than in 08. Lang, potentially Dekker & Wegelius should deal him a somewhat stronger hand in at least some of the "clinches". I DO think that his best chances to win may have passed but neither can he be regarded as a "non-factor".
If anyone can follow wheels and hang on like grim death, it's Cadel. But he can't wear the yellow jersey early on and hope to defend it against Caisse d'Epargne, Saxo-Bank, and Astana. He doesn't have a strong enough team for that. It's better for Cadel to be the underdog than the favorite, I think.
There's a chance CSC and Astana will go toe to toe and forget about Cadel.
His strategy could be to go under the radar all the way to Ventoux, and roll the dice for a big win.
The key is Cadel was defending for 2 weeks, plus the crash, the mental and physical fatigue killed him. In 2009 Cadel will not have the big target on his back like 2008 - that honour goes to Contador.
Popo signed 2 years with Astana btw.
This year (-08) was Cadel's best shot for the victory since Astana were banned. I doubt he'll even podium next year, we might very well see Astana sweep the podium.
Dekker isn't unproven at the Tour--he did a fine job of riding support for Rasmussen in the mountains in 2007. Plus he came in 8th in the prologue, 11th in the final time trial (where he finished just ahead of Fabian Cancellara), and ended his first (and so far only) Tour in 35th place overall.
As long as he stays uninjured, I think Dekker will be a big help to Evans next year.
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