Yee Bloody Haaa CADEL EVANS

[Cage]

Hail our first Tour de France winner

[Scotty72]

Evans is king!

[Cage]

I was so emotional when I posted this message that I didn't say what I intended to.

Cadel Evans has just become an Australian sporting ICON. The Holy Grael of European Sport has been won by a kid from Katherine.

Up there with our win in the Americas Cup, Alan Border belting OZ over the line in the World Cup and other you beaut moments.

I am in awe of this achievement.

[fillum]

Yep, this is special. Well done Cadel.

[Analog6]

Go Cadel!

[kiwi]

I'd say greatest individual sporting feat outside of the olympics ever possibly, definately in modern professional era, certainy best since cash won wimbledon.

[ricktas]

Amazing also in that Cadel was a mountain biker first, and only swapped to road racing after the 2000 olympics. Many of his competitors will have been road race specialists sine their teenage years.

Brilliant!!!!!!!

[Kym]

To pick up 57 seconds in the last competitive stage was awesome - it was the ride of his life - also his best discipline!!!

http://www.foxsports.com.au/other-sp...-1226100558600

He won by 1:34 - so he gained 2:31 overall!

1. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) 83h45min 20sec
2. Andy Schleck (LUX/LEO) at 1:34.
3. Frank Schleck (LUX/LEO) 2:30.
4. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) 3:20.
5. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 3:57.
6. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/EUS) 4:55.
7. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 6:06.
8. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) 7:23.
9. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 8:15.
10. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 10:11.

[Kym]

Must say the new doping regime helped, its was a level playing field this year! Go Cadel!

[cam bicknell]

It was great to see him not suffer all the bad luck that has dogged previous attempts.
I kept waiting for a fall or a mechanical or an an earthquake or aliens landing or something to go wrong.
Awesome to see someones lifes work come to fruition.

[Dylan & Marianne]

is it definitely a win? could someone set a really dodgy precedent and backstab him in the last stage?
let's hope inglorious history isn't made - hooray for cadel!

[Scotty72]

is it definitely a win? could someone set a really dodgy precedent and backstab him in the last stage?
let's hope inglorious history isn't made - hooray for cadel!

Even if someone did, 1:30 is a huge margin on such flat stage. Also, the entire peloton would be acting as policeman to stop any serious breakaway (that was my role when I was cycling ). Even with a mechanical, he's got time. It would need a catastrophic crash etc to lose from here.

[Scotty72]

I can't see how anyone can compare any Olympic event to this. Run a marathon every day for 3 weeks then, maybe

[ameerat42]

1) All of the above. [√]

[Dylan & Marianne]

call me a pessimist lol - I'll really cheer later today :P
this is kind of on par with 1983 America's Cup isn't it?

[WhoDo]

Hmmm ... Cadel Evans' name joins an illustrious list for such a tiny country; Andrew "Boy" Charlton, Lionel Rose, Rod Laver, Don Bradman, Dawn Fraser ... the list is growing not only in length but in the magnitude of the achievements.

[kiwi]

I think in perspective anything like this is not so much the actual event or comparing the skills or how hard it is

If you stand on top of the world in any major sporting event for that moment, until the next time you are the best

I think special credit also must go to those that are first, eg first up everest, first to win all majors, first to win a grand slam, etc

Also special credit to those that extend their dominance over a period of time, eg 5 wimbledons in a row, stuff like that


So in thus context cadels win is great in Australian terms, but decidedly ordinary in world terms

[Scotty72]

I think in perspective anything like this is not so much the actual event or comparing the skills or how hard it is

If you stand on top of the world in any major sporting event for that moment, until the next time you are the best

I think special credit also must go to those that are first, eg first up everest, first to win all majors, first to win a grand slam, etc

Also special credit to those that extend their dominance over a period of time, eg 5 wimbledons in a row, stuff like that


So in thus context cadels win is great in Australian terms, but decidedly ordinary in world terms

True, he has a long way to go before he is a patch on Lance Armstrong (who is, after all, from another country where cycling is a relatively minor sport)

[kiwi]

call me a pessimist lol - I'll really cheer later today :P
this is kind of on par with 1983 America's Cup isn't it?

I doubt that in a years it will be as remembered as 83 is almost 30 years later That was a national phenomenon, do you think Julia will get drunk and say there should be a national holiday ?

Who remembers pat cash in 1983 winning wimbledon

What about the last Australian to win a golf major ?

[WhoDo]

So in thus context cadels win is great in Australian terms, but decidedly ordinary in world terms

True, unless you factor in how difficult it was to get there. Andrew "Boy" Charlton won two events in world record time while suffering the effects of rheumatic fever. Ian Thorpe's consistency may overshadow the wins, but not the struggle IMHO.

In the case of Evans, he has been consistently high in the rankings and finished second in the TdF on one occasion, not that I know much about the sport, so in my view he's "paid his dues". He may be no Lance Armstrong, yet, but there is still some debate as to whether Armstrong's efforts were drug assisted. Evans is a kid from Katherine. He didn't even have the advantage of growing up in Sydney's much stronger cycling culture early in his endeavours, or the millions poured into the sport in Europe and America. He has picked himself up from a disappointing defeat to take his performance to a new level through sheer determination. You've got to admire that, surely, no matter who you are or where you come from!