Who’s your Poppy?
You’d think that with such an historical event taking place in France overnight that the Australian newspapers would be a sea of yellow and ‘we are the champions’ headlines this morning. Yet what I saw staring back at me when I visited one of the most respected newspaper websites (ie not a Murdoch tome) was a dead, tattooed junkie. Now that’s news!
Australians are known for our love of the ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’, where we like to take a famous public figure, be it a politician, entertainer or sportsperson, and build them up to a level of adulation sometimes deserved, oftentimes not, and when that figure reaches the pinnacle of their field we criticise or ridicule them to bring them back down to ‘our’ level. We don’t want to be seen as lesser than them, or more likely want our heroes to be just ‘ordinary blokes’ like us. Aussies love to be the common man, but also want to be better than all those high-and-mighty Poms, Yanks, or in this case, ‘Frogs’.
Now that ‘we’ have won the world’s biggest bike race, we will embrace the victory and milk it for all it’s worth. Even if the majority or the Holden-drivin’, VB-drinkin’, steak-eatin’, footy-watchin’ public thinks that cyclists are lycra-wearin’ fags, and would gladly swerve their ute to run us into the gutter for a bit of a laugh.
So enjoy your time in the sun Cadel, make the most of the plaudits from the press, the politicians and the cycling fans, because cycling will still be seen as not a real man’s sport by most. Kind of like yachting, but hey, we loved it for a brief moment when we won the Americas Cup.
You little bloody ripper!
Bravo Cadel!
Newspapers, TV and radio are going nuts down here about Cadel. On the positive side they are all talking about it and our local sports radio station ran a poll, “Is Cadel’s win the greatest ever Australian sporting achievement?” Over 80% said yes!
On the more amusing side, heard some social commentator try to talk it down saying there are more important things in the world (yes this is true), she didn’t know why people get excited about somebody winning a sporting event, the guy “apparently lives in Switzerland” so not a real Aussie, etc.
The irony here is that given how much of a social conscience Cadel has, and how little he likes the limelight, he would be about he only Australia who would actually agree with what she was saying (except for the bit about Switzerland).
Cadel “You little bloody ripper!”. What a man.
I missed the first ten days of the Tour, upon my return I happily found tivo had recorded f’ing too many hours of HD tour bliss and I have been doing nothing but spending every night catching up ever since. I watched the Alp d”Huez last night, could that have been the best stage ever? Chapeau Cadel, no one is tougher, he deserves this completely.
Luckily I could fast-forward through two million Michelob Ultra ads. Lance should go to jail for endorsing that, let alone doping. If I even meet someone drinking that piss I shall be forced to give them a nasty taunting. Secondly, I’m glad Alberto punched that fool, more punching of obnoxious fans I say! The Dutch corner was drunk and loud but at least not hampering the riders.
Please file this in the “two dollars short and two days late” bin.
@Gianni
Luckily, no-one was riding back down the road…
good Cadel…GOOD Cadel….GOOD GOOD Cadel!
Enjoy mate! you deserve it.
Dunno whether people have seen this, but if not, it aint a bad shot. John Lelangue posted this photo on twitter. Cuddles in the bus after the TT. 1664 in hand. Job done.
@Marcus
It’s shit like that that got you your new badge, mate.
@frank
On that topic (Clenbutador), yesterday I was shooting the shit about the Tour with my brother and mentioned that the 2010 Tour is still under a cloud because of Clenbuterol. I said that I thought the drug was some sort of masking agent and Alberto only got caught with a little bit in his system. My brother is a racehorse vet who used to do a lot of drug testing on horses. He snorted, “Clenbuterol! Its not a masking agent (in that special tone that older brothers use to tell their younger brothers that they know nothing)! Its an anabolic. We used to see it all the time in racehorses. It fucking works!”
@Marcus
I bet those guys are partying fucking hardy right now. Still. Hincapie, I’m guessing, knows a thing or two about after-Tour winning parties.
Good on the lot of them.
@Marcus
I’m familiar with that tone; mine is on his way over here to visit me next week, so I’ll be getting a few years’ worth of it just to catch up.
Clenbuterol. What a joke his story is. And what of the plasticizers? Once that test is approved, he’ll have some more ‘splainin to do. In the end, I’m glad he raced and lost. The Giro was useless because of him. But thanks to Cadel and the fight from the Schlecks (and Tommy V), the Grand Tour has been resurrected.
Gotta say that rendition of the Australian National Anthem has me all goose bumpy. Found it on YouTube, but can anyone tell me who that was doing the singing of Advance Australia Fair? After hearing the US anthem slaughtered in so many horrible ways, this was a treat.
Good on ya Cuddles. Almost makes me wanna forget what a bunch of stinkin’ cheaters the Aussies were back in ’83 when they thieved the America’s Cup. Almost. But iocane comes from Australia, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals….
@eightzero
Her name is Tina Arena – an Aussie singer who has been around since she was a little kid singing on a show called “Young Talent Time”(!). She now lives in Paris. Ripper voice – not sure about the Aussie flag top she was wearing.
Tina Arena! I thought she was dead…
@brett
@Bianchi Denti
Hey! Why am I getting all defensive about that comment! Cycling fandom is like that phrase about bikes being light aero or cheap – pick 2. I feel that with my bias, xenophobia (seriously I am scared of Marcus) and stupidity I’m outperforming on those measures.
@Omar
Beauty queens would look that rough if they were turning themselves inside out like Cadel’s been doing for, well, forever.
I know Cadel has an incredibly low position on the TT bike but there’s an amazing shot here on the Cycling Tips site which shows just how far down he is.
http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2011/07/le-tour-diary-stage-20-its-only-0057/
His hands are only a few inches above the front wheel. Compare it to the other positions where riders have the bar extensions on mounts which give them more height above the bars.
Must take a lot of getting used to.
P.S. Scroll down to the shot after Voeckler.
@ChrisO
Here’s a pic of his bike – bars about even with the top tube. My back hurts just looking at it.
Gianni – Awesome! That’s right, Lance should go to jail for the whole Ultra bullshit. Nothing like guys drinking light beer or bullshit beer like that. I drink beer that tastes good and gives me a bit of a buzz. Why bother drinking fucking Coor Light or Miller Lite? Total nonsense.
Wow, ten days of catch-up viewing? Enjoy!
Oh, and those Izod commercials with Weezer? Those suck too. When did all commercials become music videos?
Cadel must be very flexible and very malleable in all ways. When I saw that he rides a 140mm stem I knew something was up. I just went from a 100 to a 110 and the bike handling was noticeably different for a few rides. I cannot imagine being slammed down with a 140! Crazy. And his TT positioning is as well.
In 2002 I watched the 2nd to last stage in the Giro and Cadel was in pink for the first time. I saw Cadel suffer as much as anyone I’ve ever seen climbing, while losing the jersey and the Giro. 9 years later I saw the same loser of the Giro win one of the smartest tactical races of the TDF ever. Two things stood out to me about Cadel. Nobody rode in the drops as much as Cadel. He was racing every second of the Tour. Finally, when he had his mechanical on stage 19 (I thought he would lose the tour right there) he was as cool as a cat, waiting for his replacement bike. He aint no whiner, just a humble deserving winner.
@Blah
That bike is a weapon! It’s interesting to see that BMC appear to be the only frame manufacturer in the last 3 that he’s raced for that’s got it right. I can’t remenber what the Canyon looked like, but the Ridley he had a few years ago when he was still with Lotto with the adjustable stem cranked all the way down was as anti V as you could imagine.
@Ron
I understand that Cuddles is indeed very flexible. I recall reading that he does plenty of yoga to maintain his position.
@mauibike
+1
Ah, my extensive research has revealed this
@mouse
A little while back I was told by a certain Australian 6-time TdF rider (clue: Jaja’s domestique – and yes, quality non-name drop from me) that Cadel’s Canyon (albeit his road bike) just wasn’t right for him. The reason he didn’t salute when he won the ’09 Worlds was that he wasn’t comfortable going no hands on it.
For a rider with his handling skills that is saying something. However I do acknowledge that his victory salutes need work.
He is still on the front page of newspapers again today – and it’s Tuesday Fronk.
Didnt canyon do something bizarre with the headtube and have the stem coming out the front of it? Or was that his road bike?
@Cyclops
It’s interesting (well for me anyway) to ponder what others think of Cuddles.
You refer to him being a whiner, and I can think of a few instances where people may have formed that opinion of him. I think specifically post Vuelta the year he became world champion.
Referring to the botched wheel change on the penultimate stage where he lost exactly the same amount of time that he lost the race to valverde, and was also slapped with a 10 second penalty from the commissars for accepting a bidon from (a spectator/team car, can’t remember), he was quoted as follows;
“I do everything right in this fucking sport…” I remember many painting him as a whiner after that.
Following on from my posts above about his physiological capacities, cuddles would have known from his testing at the AIS that he would be in the top 1% of all elite athletes.
My conjecture about his comments is that he knows that he’s clean, and his competitors aren’t, and that he just can’t catch a break. I’d be frustrated too. It interesting to ponder the list of riders who’ve bested cuddles over the years in GC with regard to their doping records.
I’m just chuffed that he’s finally got there.
Yep, he’s got a funny voice and may seem a bit strange at times. There’s been a bit in the media here about what a private person he is and how when he was at lotto, the team wouldn’t give him the space he needed. Apparently BMC were much more understanding and accommodating about his personality quirks and it’s apparent that it works.
Scary painting of himself above the fireplace; Gold.
@Ash
It’s funny you should mention that.
I don’t recall the modern version, but I was just this morning trying to track down an image of Fignon riding TT on his blue Gitane (?) in the late 80’s. Thought it would make an interesting comparison how aero configurations on TT bikes has evolved.
@mouse
Here you go, got my Oli on.
Photo from Cadel’s *first* bike racing career…
What’s also cool for our antipodean friends is that Oz now ranks third in UCI rankings. Think about it, they are higher than Belgium, France, and Dutchland. That’s very impressive.
# 1. Spain, 1126 point
# 2. Italy, 1041 point
# 3. Australia, 1018 point
# 4. Belgium, 813 points
# 5. Germany, 574 points
# 6. Luxembourg, 514 points
# 7. Netherlands, 501 points
# 8. United States, 482 points
# 9. Great Britain, 460 points
# 10. France, 377 points
@eightzero
Not only did she sing the National Anthem well, but it is the first time it has been sung live. Oh and the day before she actually rang around and told them that she wanted to do it. This was not an planned thing. It was a spur of the moment thing she did to support another Aussie.
Hows that for a great gal.
@Xponti
Cool. I was wondering how they got hold of her/picked her out
I also found this..
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/download/file.php?id=30617&mode=view
@ash
Top work.
@Frank
Thanks for that!
@frank
Just rolling through some of the older articles (work can blow itself this afternoon) and noticed the above quote from our esteemed leader post LBL…care to revisit @frank??
Not only did the Cadelephant more than show up over the last 3 weeks, the last week showed your boys actually deploying some tactics! All they need to do now is learn how to TT or go back down the hills & they’ll be unbeatable.
OK, this will be my last gratuitous photo of Cadel (unless another cool one comes up). Tweets a pic of himself on two phones doing Aussie radio interviews in the middle of the Swiss night.
“What’s that leaning against the wall in the background Cuddles?”
“Just some trident I picked up earlier this year. Still looking for a place to put it.”
@Marcus
As if you get a trident for winning Tirreno-Adriatico. I did now know that. Awesome. That’s gotta be the most V-chanelling trophy in cycling, surely?
@ralasdair
It’s V in a really comic book sort of sense, but for straight-up hard as nails bad-arsery, Paris-Roubaix’s big fucking rock, that you just defeated like the road-paving bitch it is, is hard to beat.
@Blah
Looks like a weapon.
Awesome photo…the MJ, the lion, the trident, his dog…NICE!
Mmmmmm
@Marcus
Are those his wife’s jeans? Even his dog looks disappointed.
Full RESPECT for Cadel obeying Rule #15 on the stage into Paris. Well done Cadel. Well done.
@blaireau
Ahem…
@RiderofRohan
Especially since he has been a massive Rule #15 breaker in the past.
If there’s any doubt about the work ethic and preparation of this guy, the caption to this photo taken before the ITT start reads, “Cadel Evans rode the entire course as part of his warm up…”
The photo of the Schleck’s pre-ITT caption says, “… while the Schleck brothers ‘went part way by car and rode back chatting’ according to our man on the scene”
Here’s what Melbourne’s iconic trams are doing for Australia’s 1st TDF winner!
Yarra Trams
I’m want one for ‘the pool room’!
Hope Cadel stays out of the tracks next Friday on his victory ride!