Riddle me this, Batman
 

Here's a simple letter riddle for you:

C=C
A=H
D=O
E=K
L=E

Headbutting reporters, slapping cops, no attacking flair, fails in his supposed specialty in the biggest moment, a really bad ass-chin.

Sorry, he just doesn't have the makeup of a winner.

I'd give my teeth to be able to ride like Cadel. I'd even give up my perfect eyebrows in exchange for those woolly mammoths on his brow. I'm glad he lost because I'm not a fan of his, but I can't really put the man down. He's a champ.

honestly i'm glad. the man just doesn't have the bearing of a tour champion.

ed rader

Really this is no surprise. Since Cadel is consistently strong but cannot put big time into any of the top GC guys in the mountains. He just kind of hangs on.

Yup, I think he broke mentally.

... Brad

Rarely did Indurain put big time into any of the top GC guys in the mountains, but he did OK for five tours :rolleyes:

Nobody to wheel suck on the ITT

Yeah but Indurain would whip the field in the time trials.

Cadel had ZERO help in the montains. None. NADA. Zippo. His toughness and ability to suffer is beyond question. You don't think it made a difference to Sastre to have Cancellara, then O'Grady, then Jens, then andy and Frank take turns pulling him?
All that said, I thought the field for this tour overall was weak. Few years from now we'll get to see Taylor Phinney in the tour, and I think that may liven things up a bit. I also thought Shumacher and A. Schleck were nice surprises.

Cadel finished 2nd last year, so he's already been a proven GC contender - whose fault is it that his team gave him nothing? Silence Lotto, their DS, or Cadel? SOMEONE (of those three) should have built a stronger team to at least help him in the mountains.

By way of comparison, I remember ONE stage where Lance was isolated fairly early in the mountains, and the post-stage interview with Lance went something like this: "there will be some serious discussion tonight at the team table about what happened today". And I don't think I ever saw him isolated (not until much higher up when it was only GC contenders, at least) ever again.

You HAVE to be better than the best to win without a team (even then, how much can you possibly have left for that last TT if you're clawing and scratching to not be broken by attack after attack in the mountains where you're on your own?); you only have to be one of the strong contenders to win, IF you have a strong enough team to support you in all or most of the toughest stages.

I can see the discussion now...

Robbie McEwen to DS: "Can we go back to supporting me for the green jersey yet?"

+1. I wish they'd done this...
Even if he had 1 or 2 guys for his leadouts, he would have had a few top 3's and maybe even beaten Cavendish once or twice. I think Cavendish has him beat in speed, but Robbie's sneaky as hell.

I wonder if they are missing Chris Horner now.....

indurain was the undisputed boss of the peloton. cadel is an angry also ran :eek:.

ed rader

i was thinking the same thing. fwiw evans didn't have any support. his director either is an idiot or didn't have the resources to build a decent team around evans.

ed rader

I'm in agreement with you on this. But I am betting it was a resource issue because the team doesn't appear to be willing to pony up the money for a support system for a real contender....

Maybe it is just a conspiracy to make him even hungrier come next year. That or they want him to sign elsewhere to lower the overall salary of the team....

I think he did finally brake. He road well but by todays stage you could tell he was wiped. I had no power left and couldn't find himself in the TT. I feel bad for the guy and kinda understand why he was pissed.

Silence signed Popovych to be that "support." Paid him good money too. Did they get fair return on their investment?

I second (or third) the idea that Evans would've liked having Horner around.


:beer:

Also, Indurain dominated the TTs in a way that not even Armstrong could.

Popo showed up 1 day in the mountains and the Evans was know where to be found.

???

I suspect Popo is tired of riding support.

He was also awesome in the mountains. Lord knows how many times he finished 2nd, 3rd, or 4th on a mountain stage. Climbed as well as or better than all his rivals in all of his wins. Only rarely did a GC rival ever successfully attack him.

Do you?

Ed, it's a Belgian team that's really focused on races like LBL and Tour of Flanders. They could not bring in Popo and also keep Horner. Riders like Aerts and Hoste are good, but they are not support riders for climbing stages.

Whatever...CSC is a stronger team and that clearly showed. From my perspective, I think Cadel did a helluva job considering he was under constant attack last week in the Alpine stages. The only rider I can recall successfully pulling off a win under those conditions was Lance in 1999.