sizzling across your screen
This man is a God. His name is Cadell Evans, and he has been doing good. Born in Katherine, and now thirty years old, he started in cycling as a world class mountain biker.
By last night, he was second overall in the Tour de France. Tonight, he dropped to third after a punishing climb in the Pyrenees. Because he is such a strong time trialler, he may yet be a contender on the last stage into Paris. I suspect he is the most successful Australian on the Tour evah.
So, we lose Robbie (Dingo) McEwen – who must be ready to quit now – but gain Cadell Evans, surely a worthy replacement for the fierdest man in professional cycling.
His mum trained him by giving him a tiny bicycle, tying half a dozen crocodiles to skateboards and letting them chase him down the road.
After training as though his life depended on it – which it once did – he is one of the few top riders on this year’s accident riddled Tour who has not bled into the bitumen.
Today he nearly cried with the effort as he lost time on the clock to Michael Rasmussen, the leader with whom he must stay in touch until the final time trial. Rasmussen is not a time trialler’s busted spoke, you see, and can be overhauled if Cadell can work till his heart bursts.
But Cadell has two more days in the vicious climbs of the Pyrenees, which suit the Dane slightly more than him. Mountains being not in evidence around Katherine, and savage heat and flies being no substitute for this particular form of training, we fear that Cadell has had his finest moments this year.
As far as this blog is concerned, he shall be known henceforth as Cadell (Croco) Evans.
——–
I have to admit that the blind swine of the world’s sporting press are having some difficulty seeing the inherent genius of our Cadell.
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:11 pm
David,
I’d love to believe, as you seem to that:
“Rasmussen is not a time trialler’s busted spoke, you see, and can be overhauled if Cadel can work till his heart bursts”
but after Saturday night’s choice viewing from Albi to Albi, I’m consigning that view to the waste bin. If Rasmussen is in yellow with more then 3 minutes on Cadel after the Pyrenees, it’s all over for the croc boy. Cadel needs to pull off a one day attack like he did the day after Amy Gillett died. Here’s hoping he can find it within himself.
I reckon he probably will.
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Zactly.
A gruesome two days in the Alps while Croc fights to keep the time gap down. Last night was not a good start to that, though the man is game to the end.
Surprising how little attention this feat is getting. My impression is that he is making a move very late in the race, where his presence means much more than the first half, which is always full of desperate death-or-glory feats for the grandkids. This is the real thing.
Basic fact: this is the toughest sporting event in the world. And our boy is running third.
July 24th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I reckon the event gets a veritable ton of attention. The timing of the 60 Minutes fluff was so sweet they must have been thanking their gawds – to run the fluff on the eve of what could have been Cadel’s great moment was uncanny.
Sadly, watching Contador and The Chicken shadow boxing at the end of the overnight stage, it’s hard to see Cadel matching them for brute aggression. But he’s got tons of cunning. The tension is exquisite, knowing the slightest slip by the leaders could open the floodgates.
What a fabulous noctunal activity the TdF is – when feeling dozy, just lull oneself with the mellifluous background of words like “arriere du peloton”, and “cadence” as they’re repeated over and over…mmmmmmm
C’mon Cadel, rest well, and blitz ‘em
July 25th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Watching Vinokourov come up that mountain, after seeing him a day earlier in the drenching rain losing his pace completely with a lump of his thigh sticking through his torn shorts was just amazing.
I go in hope, but I haven’t seen our Cadell bleed for glory like that.
July 25th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
And just when they’ve inspired us with all that dazzling ‘bleed for glory’ stuff, they just go and shoot us in the guts. Vinokourov is a bastard cheat.
July 25th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
[...] David Tiley is an unabashed Cadell Evans fan, even though it now looks like the ex-Katherine former mountain bike specialist won’t win this year’s Tour de France. But he could still pull off third place or even second which would be an extraordinary effort. [...]
July 26th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
And now Rasmussen. Cadell is second and the time trial awaits.
July 26th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
If the rumours about Contador are true, Cadell could well be first shortly.
Don’t know if anyone heard the romantic and passionate word of Matt Rendell after last night’s stage – he waxed quite rhapsodically about Cadel’s racing style. But there was brutality in his proposition that Evans is most likely burning off part of his life span in this race.
You look at the rolling torture that he’s putting himself through – he couldn’t possibly be juiced.
Juicing’s bloody un-Orstarlian
July 26th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Not a bad tactic – hang in without drugs, be the first person home who isn’t zonked, wait for the others to get caught.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
They’re calling it “to Bradbury”.
Which I reckon is a bit rough on Cadel!
July 26th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
One does wonder about Contador! Tom Boonen just about said as much today
Boonen picked Australian Cadel Evans as one of the riders he still trusts. “I have given up my belief in most of the rest,” he confessed. “It is possible to ride the Tour without doping. And to ride and win, too. And Cadel Evans proves in my eyes that you could win it without doping.”
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2007/jul07/jul26news3
July 27th, 2007 at 3:53 am
Methinks the yellow jersey comes with a big target painted on the back. They’ll prolly try and bust him for a bucket-bong he did back in high school.
BTW anyone who uses the “bradbury” tag is a congenital tossbag who obviously doesn’t know squat about the sport
July 27th, 2007 at 5:28 am
God turns out to be a cyclist? Why am I not surprised!
July 27th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Love Cadell. Embodies the best qualities of Australian athletes of the non-celebrity past – guts, modesty and self-depricating humour. All power to his calves.
July 29th, 2007 at 3:40 am
Righto lungbusters. Just suffered that.
Before the post above and the one prior: funny hats permo-ducking pumping pumping switching shot to a gentle stream of unison sweetness didn’t signal the goods. But that evocative post about having your lungs ripped out and thighs deadened but not yet, not yet, worked.
And to make that sweet pedaling unison with gentle country as provocative harmony to be the toughest sport on earth had to be thrown up against a close up of man or woman who, hanging upside down for one of your seconds, scrubbles underneath for a vertical overhang for a fingernail-hold, that might be metres away and being vertical provides some sort of bloody comfort. No ropes, free-styling underneath that thing with blueness as measurement and only your death to catch you might be considered tough. Or a rock fisherperson, in the sea for the sake of a drummer, hears only the beatless roar of a twenty foot rogue, those of your cycling seconds, again, perhaps the last of their life, sounding the little thick fish to be tougher than the wave.
Consequences and idiots came to mind as well.
But the pursuit and passion and wonderment of it, momentarily, and overall, as they pumped away, clung in, hung in, fished, tackled and treadled..treadled..
All good reasons to be there next year for this, afresh.
Local papers talk if Cadel, by the way. Hopefully he will get the backing he deserves.
July 6th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Go Cadell
I’ve been following your racing since you were in Cairns in about 1996?? You stayed at Koala Court Motel – so much good luck for France – we love you!!
Jan and Stuart Moon
Daintree, Austra;ia