Cuddles calls it a day
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I reckon the guy is a legend. Must have been the only clean serious contender throughout those early tours, working his socks off against known dopers. Saiz often said he had the best physiological condition of any racer he had trained.
2007 was pure class when he kept pluggin away while contador and Rasmussen infused themselves up the mountains. Just after the cameras panned away, Cadel gurned and gnashed his way over the line...
He is one of those bike riders who just absolutely put everything he had into his sport and racing. I don't think there are many other riders from his generation who raced on bread and wart and at such a good level.0 -
reallyarunner wrote:Some great photos posted earlier in the thread and great comments too.
My enduring memory of Cadel will be him dragging the GC contenders after Andy Shleck up the Galibier and turning a tour losing 4 minute plus deficit to a potentially tour winning loss of just over a minute.
The peloton will be poorer without him.
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Rule No.10 // It never gets easier, you just go faster0 -
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That grind is a great favourite turbo trainer video of mine...0 -
I will always remember Cadel riding the Giro wearing the rainbow jersey against that b'stard Basso. Really classy riding. As others have said, he didn't seem the most natural climber, but kept up with the best through sheer determination. A truly inspirational rider, to my mind.0
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Great thread for a great bike racer....a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.0
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I recall watching Cadel racing at Plymouth in Grundig MTB WC series back in the 90's. Always liked him and liked to see him do well. I liked his little outbursts too
2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner0 -
tom3 wrote:Fair play to him for getting stuck in to his final season, remaining competitive in some stages and at least giving it a go. Also, wearing the same pair of shoes for more than one race and not bothering to have film crew to depict wee-wee poor performances all year.
Like Millar but +10 -
I've had the 'Close to Flying' book on Cadel for a while but only now getting around to reading it. Not yet reached halfway, it does give an interesting insight into his early life and his introduction into cycling, about how he suffered severe brain/head injuries after being kicked by a horse and as a child and the determination to make it as a cyclist.
Has always been a top bloke and top cyclist in my view, always in a race to race even where he knew his form might not be good enough to win. I thought with better team support he might have won a few more GTs but he always made the most of what talent he had,
Cycling will be the poorer without him.0 -
The race I remember Cadel becoming a 'racer' was the dauphine 2009. I'm certain it was one of Duffers' final few races and he was championing CE and although Valverde won Cadel pushed on on Ventoux.
OK, he f'd up the Sastre Tour but sometimes the team wins.
The Giro stage in the WC jersey is likely the best win in that jersey. Enough said, given the winner of that Giro fell off (I'm sure more than once).Life is unfair, kill yourself or get over it.0 -
type:epyt wrote:OK, he f'd up the Sastre Tour but sometimes the team wins.
He has said that coming second in the 2008 Tour de France was harder than winning the 2011 version. During stage 9 in 2008 he got taken out by the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider Gorka Verdugo and sustained injuries which impacted the remainder of his race. If that is the case (and there's no reason to disbelief that the situation occurred), criticism of him not winning that year is a bit harsh. Perhaps if he had been another rider or it wasn't the TdF he would have pulled out a day or two later. Instead he continued the race until the end knowing he was performing at below par and at the extremes of his physical ability.0 -
type:epyt wrote:The race I remember Cadel becoming a 'racer' was the dauphine 2009. I'm certain it was one of Duffers' final few races and he was championing CE and although Valverde won Cadel pushed on on Ventoux.
OK, he f'd up the Sastre Tour but sometimes the team wins.
The Giro stage in the WC jersey is likely the best win in that jersey. Enough said, given the winner of that Giro fell off (I'm sure more than once).
Is that the one where Valverde had Bertie working for him as a super domestique?
He did some sterling work there, shutting down a super aggressive Cuddles.
Makes me wonder why Contador has chickened out of doing the same job at these Worlds.
After all, he was asked...........
:P "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
It was Aldo Sassi really turned him around. I have no idea what he did but he completely transformed Cadel's attitude over the course of a winter. He won some great races in great style post 2008."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
Well there was that big meeting with the main players in cycling at the end of 08 when they decided they couldn't go on like they had been, allegedly.
Cuddles did do some good stuff before then
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4v8hi ... di-co_news
I remember in his first Tour Armstrong got a bit miffed with him for actually racing sometimes.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
I will miss Cuddles. When he's in form he always gives it a go and for that I can forgive him his awful shoes.Correlation is not causation.0
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Rick Chasey wrote:Never been a fan particularly, but there's a fair bit of respect there.
Just so ugly on a bike.
But not as ugly as Froome
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xdoc wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:Never been a fan particularly, but there's a fair bit of respect there.
Just so ugly on a bike.
But not as ugly as Froome
I guess that's in the eye of the beholder.
I find something about watching Evans cycle excruciating - his style looks so pained.0 -
Not a Cuddles fan either but would love it if he won tomorrow!0
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Has anyone ever won the Worlds and then retired without ever wearing the jersey the following year?0
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Mac9 wrote:Has anyone ever won the Worlds and then retired without ever wearing the jersey the following year?
Can't think of anyone unless Wiggins' plan to ride 10s in his counts. There was, sadly, Jempi Monsere who won his title in Leicester (in the race where Les West was 4th) and was killed while racing the following season.0 -
I've always thought he looked ugly in an entertaining way.Rick Chasey wrote:
I guess that's in the eye of the beholder.xdoc wrote:
But not as ugly as FroomeRick Chasey wrote:Never been a fan particularly, but there's a fair bit of respect there.
Just so ugly on a bike.
I find something about watching Evans cycle excruciating - his style looks so pained.
Glad that people will remember him for his aggressive racing in his later years. Can't begin to imagine how frustrating it must have been in the earlier parts of his career racing against the peloton as it was then.0 -
thegibdog wrote:
I've always thought he looked ugly in an entertaining way.Rick Chasey wrote:
I guess that's in the eye of the beholder.xdoc wrote:
But not as ugly as FroomeRick Chasey wrote:Never been a fan particularly, but there's a fair bit of respect there.
Just so ugly on a bike.
I find something about watching Evans cycle excruciating - his style looks so pained.
Glad that people will remember him for his aggressive racing in his later years. Can't begin to imagine how frustrating it must have been in the earlier parts of his career racing against the peloton as it was then.
Pfft. He could have doped too had he wanted. :roll:0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Never been a fan particularly, but there's a fair bit of respect there.
Just so ugly on a bike.
Same here. One of those riders I've just never warmed to. And cant bear those elbows when he's climbing.
Lots of respect for him though.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
I liked him sometimes and other times not so much. He had character and was very tenacious. When the doping trickled off he came to the forefront as a proper racer. Tough as steel. European rider not Australian.
Nice job Cadel Evans, congratulations on a solid career as a professional bike rider.
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Nice selection Frenchie.0
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Pleased he's gone. Just looking at those images makes me want to puke. Dislike!0
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Maybe this is the wrong sport for you to be following then.Joelsim wrote:Pleased he's gone. Just looking at those images makes me want to puke. Dislike!
I know you're very new to it, but have everything wrong. You want to be the doping sceptic, you want to be the champion of panache. You so want to be what you have garnered from internet forums what a knowing cycling fan should be. Everything you post screams desperate tryhard.Twitter: @RichN950 -
Evans’ style in a difficult Tour/Giro climbing stage was never aesthetically-pleasing, but in a TT, even if he didn’t win or wasn’t the most efficient/fastest, I thought him the smoothest TT-er, most aesthetically-pleasing, I’ve ever watched, including Fabu.
I also liked his sometimes melancholic honesty in interviews.0
