Team Landall: Cadel Evans Values Personal Space

Due to the fact that I get the majority of my cycling news from sources that discuss Lance's last bowel movement as if it's an indicator to his next TT ride (probably mediocre), I've been left to think that Cadel Evans is a meek, mild, shy guy who more or less just follows wheels and is afraid to take chances to win. I'm not completely sure that last part isn't true, but I like it's more likely that Cadel Evans is grossly aware of his own limiters and when the el pisterola hits it, he's well aware he's already on the limit and rides tempo to manage losses rather than chase, blow up, and lose a lot more. This isn't very exciting racing, but it is smart racing. I can think of another guy who for years and years rode with the same style and used to get the same criticisms but now seems to have revamped his image through twitter after hanging out with a guy who is really good at PR and personal branding. (If you can guess this rider, please do so in the comments and you'll receive an electronic long distance high five from TeamLandall.)

Yesterday, in my quest for bike tossing videos I ran across a couple videos of Cadel that I had to watch a few times to believe it was actually him. Maybe Cadel isn't such a soft guy after all. I know us Americans like to pretend like we're tough, but when it comes to feelings and shit we're all a lot more sensitive than our straight forward talking European and Australian Earth-mates. These videos seriously changed the way I think of Cadel Evans. I'm not sure it elevated his chances of winning any Grand Tours (although this Giro seems a little thin on high end talent whose real goals aren't the Tour de France.) but it certainly changed my perception of him as a soft guy who wouldn't punch back, literally.