I’ve got a couple of posts to make in the wrap-up of the Tour (and I know the whole interweb is holding its breath waiting for my analysis so I better crack on with it), but I want to make this first one as a tribute to Cadel, not just because he’s an Aussie, but also because this has been the most courageous Tour win I’ve seen since Lance Armstrong’s first win.
(From Chiara’s twitpic feed)
So Cadel is in line to win his first Tour. How did he do that, when every other time he has fallen short? What changed this year to finally make him the Tour champion his talent has always ear-marked him as?
Cadel won the Tour because of all the riders in the race, he …
- was the most consistent across all terrains and all disciplines of the race
- had the best plan
- had the best attention to detail
- was the calmest and most patient
… and because he was at least as brave as all the other contenders.
This was the best, most exciting but also most dangerousTour de France I can recall, and there were a stack of outstanding performers. Courage, bravery and panache were the hallmarks of all the people who made the race. So I can’t say Cadel was braver than Thomas Voeckler or Alberto Contador or Andy Schleck, because all three of those rode out of their skins and seized every chance they could to make a difference in their favour.
After Stage 18 up the “wrong” side of the Galibier Andy Schleck said he had attacked because he didn’t want to just sit back and finish 4th in the Tour. Well, the only rider he critiqued with that statement was his own big brother, who did indeed finish on the podium, but failed to make the impact he should have on the race.
So let’s go back to those factors.
Most consistent. Cadel isn’t the best climber in the peloton, he isn’t the best time-triallist, but he is the best all-rounder. One of the types of races that Cadel has improved in over the last few years is the hilly classics, especially in adverse weather conditions. Races such as Fleche Wallonne and Amstel Gold. And the first week of the Tour this year was almost like a series of mini Ardennes classics, and Cadel’s skills in those events and the work of his team in positioning and supporting him, was just superb.
Most obvious of course is that to be the best all-rounder you have to be able to time-trial at very nearly the top level, as well as being a kick-arse climber. Contador has shown that climbers can improve their time-trialling abilities, and Cadel’s performance in the TT last night was the way he showed that his plan for winning the Tour was right.
Best plan. This has been one of the most interesting Tours ever, and one factor in that has been the tactical battle. During the Armstrong era, the importance of a Tour-long plan was diminished by the over-whelming force of Lance’s team approach. And US Postal/Team Disco’s pattern in the mountains of steady hard tempo by your super-domestique to the bottom of the last mountain and then set the team leader free, really suited Lance down to the ground.
It also suited Alberto Contador, although as the most successful Grand Tour rider going around, he can win with several different plans. But the Armstrong approach doesn’t suit Andy Schleck, because he needs to gain more time in the mountains than can be gained on a final climb. It doesn’t suit Cadel, because it simply isn’t possible to put together more than one team in the pro peloton at any one time which has the capability of doing this, and also because Cadel isn’t explosive in the hills, and the team leader needs to be able to attack hard on that last climb.
So what were the characteristics of this “best plan”? It was to be patient, and prominent, and to use energy where it was necessary (i.e. to stay prominent) but save energy where it could be saved (i.e. in not following every Schleck/Contador surge). And at the end, trusting in Cadel’s ability against the clock. It was a plan that took into account how difficult the first week was, which left the plans of many other teams (Radioshack and Sky most notably) in tatters. It was a plan that played to Cadel’s strengths.
Best attention to detail. This was on display so many times, especially in comparison with his rivals. Contador’s team, Saxo Bank, raced the worst team time trial, perhaps because the team didn’t have the right balance of rouleurs and grimpeurs. And that poor TTT was the start of Contador losing the Tour. Andy Schleck spent the Tour’s week in the Pyrenees, where the roads are steep and narrow, complaining that the roads on the descents were steep and narrow. This lead to lost time for Andy, when he needed to be gaining time on Cadel and putting himself out of reach before the individual time trial.
Cadel’s time trial bike, the perfect balance of BMC’s team selection, pre-riding the final TT in the Criterium du Dauphine, so many times in preparation that John Lelangue and Cadel got it right. Cadel hasn’t been lucky, he has made his own luck.
Calmest and most patient. This was just about the most impressive part, because sometimes in the past, we observers of these races have though that Cadel can panic or lose focus when things go wrong, when “bad luck” does indeed come along. And there were a couple of situations in the two massive Alpine stages when things were going against Cadel and he had the patience to trust his preparation and respond calmly.
Looking back on the Tour, for me the key moment in the whole event was Cadel’s long response to Andy Schleck’s attack on the Col d’Izoard.
First, he said it was OK to let that attack go, because it at least meant he knew where Andy was, and he wasn’t having to deal with the one-two surges from both Schlecks. So Cadel and BMC did their best to limit the time gains of the Schleck-Monfort breakaway before the bottom of the Galibier. This obviously did not go according to plan, and Andy was further up the road than Cadel would have been comfortable with at the base of the last climb. But, calmly and patiently and with maximum bravery, Cadel realised that his measured effort up the Galibier would put him in a position to win the Tour.
And we all saw him lay everything on the line on that very testing climb. I was exchanging messages and tweets with quite a few friends that night, and we all marvelled at the efforts of both riders. Finally though, it was Cadel who measured his effort slightly better, and closed the gap just enough.
Andy was magnificent, but Cadel was superb.
Vive le Tour!
I’m going to enjoy Cadel and BMC’s parade laps of the Champs Elysees tonight. Soon enough I’ll post my take on the other stars of the Tour, because they were many and marvellous.