3 cheers for Cadel

[bdial]

To our Aussie friends;

Congratulations to Cadel Evans, first winner of the Tour De France from Australia

 

[Fotoguy20d]

Congratulations indeed. A great ride from Cadel - this was the best tour in years, won by a true champion. Chapeau!

Dan

 

[Tony Egan]

I am very pleased for him and his supporters although I am not really a fan of cycling.
It's a shame the sport has been tainted by so many claims and counter claims and suspicions about use of performance enhancing drugs. One wonders if celebrations should be postponed until all the blood and urine samples have been processed! I see Contador did not do so well this year after being careful to avoid the "bad meat" this time.

 

[hoffy]

Let's not count our eggs before they hatch! He still needs to make it up the Champs-Élysées!

It's going to be a long night for me! Webber on Pole in Germany and the last night of the tour. Come on Aussie!

 

[Gim]

Congrats to Cadel and Australia. I hope everything works out and I will look for a bar with a TV tomorrow to enjoy the moment.

Best,
Jim

 

[Michael W]

Great ride from Cadel for a thoroughly deserved win. The last few stages were phenomenal - he was under huge pressure in the Alps and then rode a blistering time trial to seal an emphatic victory. I'm so pleased to see the guy finally win this.

 

[M. Lointain]

He certainly went out today and proved that he deserved to win. I didn't think he was going to make it through the Alps with the Schleck brothers going at him constantly. I couldn't believe the amount of solo work Evans had to do in the last few days. He showed the poise and determination of a true champion. This year was a great tour with a lot of drama. Voekler added quite a bit to the mix too as an underdog. I was rooting for him to at least make it onto the podium after gutting it out for over a week. Too bad. Then there was Tor Hushov winning two mountain stages? What?

Hats off to the Garmin-Cervelo team too. Yellow for over a week, four stage wins, and a top ten finisher overall. If you would have told me when I started riding twenty years ago that one US team would win the team competition and a different US team (led by an Australian) would garner the Yellow Jersey I would have said you were crazy....

 

[JLP]

I am very pleased for him and his supporters although I am not really a fan of cycling.
It's a shame the sport has been tainted by so many claims and counter claims and suspicions about use of performance enhancing drugs. One wonders if celebrations should be postponed until all the blood and urine samples have been processed! I see Contador did not do so well this year after being careful to avoid the "bad meat" this time.

Tony, If other athletes were tested as much as pro bike riders you would be ashamed to watch any sport on top level.

Evans did a great TT but a real champion i am not sure.

 

[Ross Chambers]

I really have no interest whatsoever in sport. So what am I doing sitting up until 2 o'clock in the morning watching it? At first it was the joy of seeing all those marvellous French landscapes, then I found the sheer stamina of those cyclists compelling.

Such a change from the dumb brutality of most sport played in Australia.

Cadel Evans is icing on the cake, bravo!

 

[Dan Henderson]

This is the first year in many that I have not watched the Tour. First because I was traveling, now I am home but reduced my satellite package and no longer get VS. This sounds like it was the most exciting and unpredictable Tour in years, and I regret missing it.

Congratulations to Cadel Evans and to his fellow Aussies.

 

[tomalophicon]

Hey, Cadel Evans and I were both born in Armidale. I don't wear tights though.

 

[wotalegend]

Hey, Cadel Evans and I were both born in Armidale. I don't wear tights though.

Sorry, tomalophicon, Cadel was born in Katherine NT. But, hey, does it matter where he was born? He is a fair dinkum true blue Aussie hero. I have lost more sleep in the last three weeks than in the last year and it was worth every second.

 

[tomalophicon]

Damn it, he only went to school here! I went to the same primary school as he did!

Wow, you're keen. They don't even have motors on their bikes!

 

[Tony Egan]

I think the most impressive part was Cadel addressing the french crowd in basic, halting french after the win. now that's real courage, respect and humility!

 

[JLP]

I think the most impressive part was Cadel addressing the french crowd in basic, halting french after the win. now that's real courage, respect and humility!

Indeed it was but i still believe that the last 3 weeks of determination and strenght speaks a little louder.

Looking back at all stages once again Cadel Evans did a masterfull job putting it all together. He does come out as a defensive rider compared to Contador and Schleck but did get the job done.

I hope that future Tours will either make the TT in the middle week and not as the last real stage or make it much shorter so it does not have such a huge impact on the final classification.

 

[Ross Chambers]

I understand that there is speculation about a way to celebrate Cadel Evans' victory in Oz.

I suggest that he do a lap of victory along Sydney's new urban cycle paths and that Alan Jones and all of the rest of Clover Moore's (Mayor of Sydney) detractors regarding this development be compelled to attend. And applaud.

Pardon the parish pump post, but this IS an Oz list, if not a Sydney one.