Final Tour Stages, Cadel Evans Deserved Champion

Well its nearly all over, the 2011 Tour de France has I think many will agree, been the best for years and certainly the best I've ever seen.  So did you see it?  I've been watching it, reading about it and just am in awe of the guys that were battling out.  I'm not going to bore you with details of the last three days of racing, I'm sure you can do that by looking at the race reports on various websites.

What I will say is this.  Cadel Evans is a very deserving Champion.  He rode like I've never seen him before.  In previous years hes always lacked that spirit of attacking.  He always seemed to just follow the wheel of other riders.  This year he wheeled in the attacks around him, almost riding single handily to close the gap on Andy Schleck.  His weak BMC did little to help him the mountains, the schleck brothers really had the upper hand and yet they could not put the time in on Evans that would be needed coming into todays Time Trial.

And what a Time Trial.  I've never seen Evans ride one so well he only just missed out on not winning the stage.  He was rock steady on the bike when seated and aggressive out of the saddle.  He reminded me a bit of how Lance Armstrong used to ride his time trials.  The Schlecks were both rocking there shoulders from side to side and never looked as comfortable.

A true tour champion these days has to be a good climber and time trial ride and for Andy Schleck to be in Yellow at the end he needs to work on his time Trial.  He have no doubt he will win one day, and I for one will be happy to see that as he made the race so exciting to watch.

Cadel Evans may not have won any stages but he is a deserving Champion and watching him on the podium after todays race, nearly holding back the tears it was obvious what this has meant to him.  A big, big dream finally realised.  Well done Cadel!

Posted in: Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Lance Armstrong