29th Olympic Games - Men's Road Race, 245km

Location: Dhina
Date: 9 August, 2008
Starting field: 143 riders

This was a tough race. The humidity was above 90% and the climbs were steep. Only 90 riders finished.

Tactically, the Australians rode a great race. Simon Gerrans stayed with the main break-away to ensure they were covered. On the final lap, Cadel pushed the peleton hard to split it up to give Michael Rogers the best chance. Rogers was with the finishing group, but wasn't able to beat the others up the final steep climb to the finish line. Rogers finished in 6th place. The gold medal went to Spanish rider Samuel Sá. A full report is here.

The Chinese, in their infinite wisdom, didn't allow any spectators through. Chiara climbed over a fence to wave an Australian flag near the finish. Read the article Fans, family upset with lack of access here.

Cadel has decided to do the time trial, taking up the second position provided to Australia by the UCI. Woo hoo! is what I reckon.

Main results:
1 Samuel Sánchez (Spain) 6.23.49 (38.362 km/h)
2 Davide Rebellin (Italy)
3 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
...
6 Michael Rogers (Australia)
...
15 Cadel Evans (Australia) 0.22
...
(143 riders started, 90 finished)

Next Race
Olympics Time Trial: Wednesday 13 August 2008. Starts 13:30 (Chinese time: GMT+8). The start list and times are state secrets, so no idea when Cadel is riding.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.

Cadel has made it to Beijing!

Cadel originally pulled out of the time trial, but the UCI has awarded a second start to Australia, so Cadel will see after the road race whether his knee is fit enough to do the time trial.

The road race is this Saturday 9 August. It runs:
China time (GMT+8):11:00 am - 5:30 pm
Australia EST (GMT+10):1:00 pm - 7:30 pm

95th Tour de France

Location: France
UCI Classification: Grand Tour
Dates: 5-27 July, 2008
Starting field: 180 riders, 20 teams

Stage 21 - Sunday, July 27: Étampes - Paris/Champs Élysées, 143km
As expected, the final placings did not change in the stage to Paris but some of the final times did. Gert Steegmans from Quick Step won the final sprint. Cadel finished in a group 0'07 ahead of the group that Sastre was in and moved a little bit closer.

I, for one, think that Cadel pulled off an incredible effort. Based on many of your messages to me (and my apologies if I have not replied to them all), you all think so as well.
Cadel, hearty congratulations from all of us!!

A full report is here.

Photos of Cadel: Photo 1, Photo 2

Main results:
1 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step 3.51.38 (37.04 km/h)
2 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Columbia
3 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
...
24 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 0.07
...
26 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
...
30 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
...
62 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.14
...
107 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.24
...
(145 riders started and finished)

Final GC results:
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 87.52.52
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 0.58
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 1.13
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 2.10
5 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 3.05
...
Final points (green jersey) results:
1 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 270 pts
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 220
3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 217
...
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 103
...
Final mountains (red-spot jersey) results:
1 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 128 pts
2 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 80
3 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 80
...
16 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 46
...
Final teams results:
1 Team CSC Saxo Bank 263.29.57
2 AG2R-La Mondiale 15.35
3 Rabobank 1.05.26
...
5 Silence - Lotto 1.17.15
...
Next Race
Cadel is heading to Beijing for the Olympics. I'm not sure if there are any appearance races before he goes.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.

95th Tour de France

Location: France
UCI Classification: Grand Tour
Dates: 5-27 July, 2008
Starting field: 180 riders, 20 teams

Stage 20 - Saturday, July 26: Cérilly - Saint Amand Montrond (ITT), 53km
Carlos Sastre from Team CSC rode one of his best time trials to keep Cadel within the 94 sec gap with which they started the stage. Stefan Schumacher from Gerolsteiner won the time trial. Cadel finished in 7th place, 2'05 behind Schumacher and 0'29 ahead of Sastre in 12th place. Sastre will be wearing the yellow jersey on the ride to Paris tomorrow. Frank Schlek's time dropped him out of the top 5. Cadel finished better than Bernhard Kohl from Gerolsteiner to move up to second place overall. A full report is here.

Photo of Cadel:

Main results:
1 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.03.50 (49.817 km/h)
2 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.21
3 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia 1.01
4 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 1.05
...
6 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 1.55
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 2.05
...
9 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 2.21
...
12 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 2.34
...
(145 riders started and finished)

Main GC results after stage 20:
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 84.01.00
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 1.05
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 1.20
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 2.00
5 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 3.12
...
Next Stage
Stage 21: Étampes - Paris/Champs Élysées, 143km. The final stage into Paris is not likely to see any changes in the overall standings. Profile.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.

95th Tour de France

Location: France
UCI Classification: Grand Tour
Dates: 5-27 July, 2008
Starting field: 180 riders, 20 teams

Stage 19 - Friday, July 25: Roanne - Montluçon, 165.5km
The sprint teams didn't do their calculations very well this time. Sylvain Chavanel from Cofidis won the stage from a break-away.  The sprint teams tried to pull it back but left their run too late and the peloton finished over a minute later. The peloton finished together, so the GC standings remain the same.  It is all down to the individual time trial tomorrow. A full report is here.

If everything was crossed before, can you now double-cross everything for Cadel.

Main results:
1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 3.37.09 (45.73 km/h)
2 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Columbia 1.13
...
22 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto
...
32 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
...
38 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
...
46 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
...
?? Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
...

Main GC results after stage 19:
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 82.54.36
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 1.24
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 1.33
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 1.34
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 2.39
...
Next Stage
Stage 20: Cérilly - Saint Amand Montrond (ITT), 53km. This is it - the decider. Assuming Carlos Sastre is the best of the top riders, Cadel needs to ride an average of 1.77 secs/km faster than Sastre to grab the yellow jersey. Profile.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.

95th Tour de France

Location: France
UCI Classification: Grand Tour
Dates: 5-27 July, 2008
Starting field: 180 riders, 20 teams

Stage 18 - Thursday, July 24: Bourg d'Oisans - Saint Étienne, 196.5km
Marcus Burghardt from Team Columbia won stage 18 from a breakaway that occurred over the first climb. The main GC contenders kept together to finish on the same time, so Cadel remains in fourth place overall. There was no moves to try to carve out more time from Cadel, which was interesting. There is even less opportunity to gain time on stage 19. A full report is here.

Someone sent in some analysis of the previous time trials which shows that Cadel rides on average 3 secs/km faster than Carols Sastre. If he can do it again, he'll have the yellow jersey going into Paris. We all need to keep everything crossed for Cadel!

Photo with Cadel.

Main results:
1 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia 4.30.21 (43.61 km/h)
2 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step
3 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 3.33
...
22 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 6.50
...
34 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
...
36 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
37 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
...
42 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
...
(150 riders started and finished)

Main GC results after stage 18:
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 79.16.14
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank  1.24
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 1.33
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 1.34
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 2.39
...

Next Stage
Stage 19: Roanne - Montluçon, 165.5km. A stage for the sprinters. There are a couple of small categorised climbs early in the route. Profile.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.

95th Tour de France

Location: France
UCI Classification: Grand Tour
Dates: 5-27 July, 2008
Starting field: 180 riders, 20 teams

Stage 17 - Wednesday, July 23: Embrun - L'Alpe d'Huez, 210.5km
The peloton forming the main contenders hit the bottom of the final climb, L'Alpe d'Huez, in one group, despite Team CSC blistering pace for the day. Soon after the climb started, Carlos Sastre from Team CSC attacked a couple of times then went clear, to power up the climb all the way to a solo finish. Meanwhile, the remaining group was watched over by the Schleck brothers, who covered any other moves made.
Sastre's attack was decisive, and moved him into the yellow jersey, and pushed Cadel down to fourth place. This race is going to the wire! A full report is here.

Photos of Cadel: Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3, Photo 4, Photo 5

Main results:
1 Carlos Sastre (Spa) CSC-Saxo Bank 6.07.58 (34.32 km/h)
2 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.03
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
4 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.13
5 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
6 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale 2.15
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto
8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
...
(151 riders started and finished, but one was outside the allowed time)

Main GC results after stage 17:
1 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 74.39.03
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 1.24
3 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 1.33
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 1.34
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 2.39
...

Next Stage
Stage 18: Bourg d'Oisans - Saint Étienne, 196.5km. Leaving the Alps, the stage is not as mountainous, but still contains three categorised climbs. Profile.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.

95th Tour de France

Location: France
UCI Classification: Grand Tour
Dates: 5-27 July, 2008
Starting field: 180 riders, 20 teams

Stage 16 - Tuesday, July 22: Cuneo - Jausiers, 157km

The tension is starting to get too much!
Stage 16 was basically two very large climbs, with a very fast decent straight to the finish line. Stefan Schumacher from Gerolsteiner had a solo lead for most of the day until he cracked near the end of the second climb over Cime de la Bonnette-Restefond. He was overtaken by a large breakaway group. This group made for some interesting team tactics, as it included team members from all the main GC teams. In the end, Team CSC seemed content to control the race and put as much pressure on Cadel and the other GC contenders as possible, rather than attacking via multiple team members. The danger of the fast and technical final descent was demonstrated by John-Lee Augustyn from Barloworld, who missed a corner and went straight over the edge and down a very slippery slope. He was able to climb back to the top, but his bike was too far down to retrieve. I wonder if some poor team helper was sent back later that night to retrieve it?

The stage was won by Cyril Dessel from AG2R. The main GC contenders came in 1'28 later. Cadel finished with Frank Schleck from Team CSC and Bernhard Kohl from Gerolsteiner, so no change in the top three results. However, Denis Menchov from Rabobank was not as brave (or as foolhardy?) as the other GC riders, and lost 0'35 on the final descent which moved Carlos Sastre up to fourth place overall. Christian Vande Velde from Team Garmin was not able to keep up on the final climb and lost 2'36 in his GC placing, dropping out of the top 5. A full report is here.

Main results:
1 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 4.31.27 (34.70 km/h)
2 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
3 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence - Lotto 0.03
5 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia 0.24
6 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
7 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.03
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 1.28
10 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
11 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto
12 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
13 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
14 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre
15 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
16 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom
17 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.32
18 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia
19 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia 2.03
20 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre
21 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
22 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram 2.36
23 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit Agricole
24 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 3.21
25 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 4.04
26 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
...
(153 riders started, 152 finished but one was outside the allowed time)

Main GC results after stage 16:
1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 68.30.16
2 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.07
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 0.08
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.49
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 1.13
...
Next Stage
Stage 17 is the make-or-break stage, I think. If Cadel can stay in touch with the other top 5 riders, he should be able to reclaim the yellow jersey in the time trial on Saturday. The next best time trialler in the top 5 is Denis Menchov.

Stage 17: Embrun - L'Alpe d'Huez, 210.5km. Two cat.HC climbs en-route over the Col du Galibier and Col del la Croix de Fer, before finishing on the famous L'Alpe d'Huez. Profile.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.

95th Tour de France

Location: France
UCI Classification: Grand Tour
Dates: 5-27 July, 2008
Starting field: 180 riders, 20 teams

Stage 15 - Sunday, July 20: Embrun - Prato Nevoso, 183km
Three riders broke clear at the 12km mark, and were joined later by Australian Simon Gerrans from Credit Agricole. They kept the lead for the rest of the stage, over 17 minutes at one point, to the very end when Simon Gerrans sprinted past to win the stage.

Behind this break-away group, the battle for yellow was waged on the final climb. With all the main contenders in the main lead group, Cadel lost some time to most of them. Frank Schleck from Team CSC finished 0'09 in front of Cadel to take the yellow jersey, and Bernhard Kohl from Gerolsteiner is now second overall. Cadel now sits in third place overall. However, many of the commentators (and I tend to agree) say that this is likely a good thing, as it puts the pressure of defending the yellow onto Team CSC. A full report is here.

Main results:
1 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Crédit Agricole 4.50.44 (37.77 km/h)
2 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.03
3 Danny Pate (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 0.10
...
5 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 4.03
...
8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 4.23
9 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 4.41
10 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 4.43
...
13 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 4.50
...

Main GC results after stage 15:
1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 63.57.21
2 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.07
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 0.08
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.38
5 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 0.39
...
Next Stage
The second rest day is tomorrow. Yah!

Stage 16: Cuneo - Jausiers, 157km. Another killer stage with two cat.HC climbs - the Col de la Lombarde and the Cime de la Bonnette-Restefond. Profile.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.

95th Tour de France

Location: France
UCI Classification: Grand Tour
Dates: 5-27 July, 2008
Starting field: 180 riders, 20 teams

Stage 14 - Saturday, July 19: Nîmes - Digne les Bains, 194.5km

Stage 14 was an incredibly fast stage that averaged over 46km/h, which is surprising given the mainly uphill profile of the race. The peloton covered 52km in the first hour. A large group of 20 riders broke away at the 5km mark. The peloton drew them back in, but four of the breakaway group attacked and got away for most of the stage. The last remnant of the four-man group was caught at the 10km to go mark. Despite a final solo effort by Sylvain Chavanel from Cofidis, the peloton formed to finish the stage together. However, the final sprint was mainly uphill which saw many of the pure sprinters fall behind. Oscar Freire Gomez from Rabobank won the final sprint. Cadel finished with peloton to retain the yellow jersey for another day. A full report is here.

Photos of Cadel: Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3, Photo 4

Main results:
1 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 4.13.08 (46.102 km/h)
2 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone
3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
...
21 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
...
28 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto
...
32 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
...
34 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
...
64 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
...
(158 riders started, 157 finished)

Main GC results after stage 14:
1 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 59.01.55
2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.01
3 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 0.38
4 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.46
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.57
...
Next Stage
Stage 15: Embrun - Prato Nevoso, 183km. The first of the big Alp stages takes the race over the cat.HC climb Col Agnel and finishes at the top of cat.1 climb Prato Nevoso. Profile.

Arthurs Creek Celebrates
Some photos of how the locals are celebrating Cadel's success: link.

Reproduced with permission from Geoff Schmidt who is unashamedly biased towards following Cadel Evans.