If you believe the numerous credible journalists who have pounced on this report in Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Australia’s greatest ever road cyclist is about to announce his retirement.
We won’t officially know until next week, but as Cadel Evans prepares to meet up with his Aussie teammates in Spain for the world road race championships, there seems no other reason for him to be making an announcement about his future.
Should the Gazzetta dello Sport story be correct, Cadel will end his professional career on February 1st on the Great Ocean Road at the race named in his honour. Thirteen days later, he’ll turn 38.
The script couldn’t be more perfect for Evans to bring down the curtain on his history-making feats, with the 2011 Tour de France and the 2009 world road race championship the clear highlights.
We can reflect on the many other magic moments and the remaining 27 professional wins when he finally does end it all.
Knowing when to end a career must be an excruciating decision for an elite athlete, and watching Cadel ‘struggle’ in the just-completed Vuelta a Espana made me think he’d ridden one Grand Tour too many. After all, it was only a few weeks ago he won the final two stages at the Tour of Utah in dominant fashion.
Cadel was fantastic to watch, aggressive, smart and still with plenty of power. To me that was a sign that maybe we could see Cadel’s focus turning to the shorter races, particularly the one-day classics.
A win at the Tour Down Under (remember how good Cadel looked going up Corkscrew), and overall victory at the Giro del Trentino in April suggested Cadel had plenty left in the tank, even at 37.
A few weeks later, he pulled on the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia and we dared to dream of another podium finish. Alas, as the roads got steeper Cadel just couldn’t stick with the big boys and he eventually faded to a distant but not-too-shabby eighth.
At the Vuelta, Cadel never really seemed to get going. Maybe it was the extreme heat of the first five days, or his mindset in his new role as a domestique to team leader Sammy Sanchez that saw him finish 52nd. More than two hours behind Albert Contador, it was Cadel’s second worst Grand Tour placing, and apart from a sixth place on Stage 3 and the same result in the Stage 10 individual time trial, we barely heard his name mentioned.
Going by this diary entry on Cadel’s website, the signs were there as early Stage 7.
In the final, I took advantage of not being in GC (my legs were easy convinced) and ‘sat up’ with 11 kilometres to go. First to comment was the Aussie-Dutchman Koen De Kort; “what are you doing here Cadel”. I had to be honest, “I dunno, it’s my first time.”
Right now as I ponder what Cadel will say next week I’m wondering just how much of an effect the past two Grand Tours have had on his decision.
Given he also wasn’t selected for this year’s Tour and struggled in the 2013 edition, has that shaped his decision to retire, assuming that’s what going to be announced next week?
Given how he’s performed the year in the shorter races, maybe that’s just how it has to be for Cadel in his twilight riding years. Reaching the high levels we’ve seen at previous Grand Tours is beyond him now.
Why not spend a year or two targeting the one-day and short stage races? After all, you’re a long time retired. By his own admission during the Vuelta, he was not at his best.
“My performance has been a lot lower than I expected, but I have a lot of things going on in my life,” he said.
“And I haven’t been as concentrated as I would have liked to have been.”
But maybe a rest and a solid performance at the worlds might show us Cadel still has plenty of fight left in his legs. Maybe that would convince us that Cadel should keep going for one more year, albeit on a slightly less demanding path.
Maybe.
Or maybe, Cadel just knows this is the right time to say goodbye.
There is obvious symmetry to him ending his career at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and this way there’s a chance he can leave the sport while still on top. After all, no one wants to see a champion go on for one season too long. Perhaps that’s what Cadel did at the Vuelta, where the super domestique plan just didn’t work.
But assuming he is about the pull the pin, what then? What will Cadel do next?
I don’t know Cadel very well, but I know plenty of people who do. Based on that I’m not sure he will stay on at BMC as some kind of ambassador to cycling.
I’ve always had Cadel pegged for disappearing from the sport completely once he finishes racing. He’s a shy person at the best of times, and doesn’t seem overly fussed about the limelight.
If that were to happen though it would be a massive shame. Given what he’s achieved, Cadel should stay in cycling in some capacity. He is an inspirational name to tens of thousands of Australians and his clean-cut image could help spread the benefits of this wonderful sport to both the converted and the yet to be convinced.
It is hard to imagine Cadel taking on a media role, or even working as team director, but behind the scenes, quietly spreading the message, might be the perfect gig for him.
Happy to be proved wrong, but we can’t just let our first Grand Tour winner fade away into the sunset.
Cadel has given us so many memories, but he can still give us so many more.
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