It’s 100 days until the sporting world stops for the centenary edition of the Tour de France.
That’s 100 days to prepare both physically and mentally for what should be an incredible race, with potentially Alberto Contador, Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Samuel Sanchez, Joaquim Rodriguez, Jelle Vanendert, Pierre Rolland, Jurgen Van den Broeck and Alejandro Valverde to name just a few, fighting for the podium, and that’s not counting Bradley Wiggins, if he changes his mind, and of course Cadel Evans.
No question, this race could be absolutely epic, certainly more exciting – in terms of pure racing than last year – but if you saw team BMC’s email from a couple of days ago and also looked at Cadel Evans’ website, then like me, you might be a little concerned.
On Evans’ website under his schedule, the next listed race for him is the Criterium International in Corsica, this weekend. It’s a three-stage affair running over two days covering 272 km.
For those attending, it’s a chance to pick up the vibe ahead of the July return when Le Tour rolls onto the island for the Grand Depart.
Stage one is a mammoth 89km, starting and finishing in Porte Vecchio with a climb up the 208m Cote de Conca (5.7%) at the midway point of the race.
Later that day, stage two is a seven km individual time trial around Porte Vecchio, which, while not exactly flat, only climbs 37m at its midway point and at the end.
Stage three on the Sunday covers 179km and none of it is flat. There’s the Col de Bacinu (817m, 12 km at 5.8%), the Côte de Levie (602m, 5.1 km at 4.6%), the Côte d’Abellara (370m, 5.2 km at 6.2%) and the Côte de Sartène (303m, 2.3 km at 4.8%).
Topping it all off is final climb up the Col de l’Ospedale (956m), a 14 km ascent averaging 6.2% including one km section at 10.4%.
Evans won this race last year, after which he went on to compete in the Tour de Romandie (finishing 29th) in late April and the Dauphine (finishing third) in early June.
Granted Cadel didn’t have the best of health in 2012, but apart from the Tirreno Adriatico, a DNF in Amstel Gold and two single-day races – GP di Lugano and Trofeo Palma de Mallorca – that was all his pre-Tour de France racing. A total of 27 race days.
If you believe his website, the Criterium International will be his last race before the Tour de France. That said, the Tour is listed as his only race for the rest of the year.
The BMC email from earlier this week’s says, “The race that begins Saturday will likely be the only one Evans races with teammate Tejay van Garderen before the Tour de France.”
Last year, it was van Garderen pacing his team leader up the climbs, before eventually being relieved of his responsibilities when Evans was clearly out of contention.
Tejay went on to finish fifth with Cadel seventh, some four minutes behind his heir apparent.
They are clearly again going to be BMC’s two major general classification contenders in July, so isn’t it a bit strange that a two-day ride around Corsica in March is “likely” to be their only race together before then?
Sure, they can train together, but ultimately is that as good as racing?
Last year they raced the Dauphine and Romandie together. Tejay didn’t finish Romandie (DNF stage four) but then after riding the Tour of California (fourth) he finished 14th in the Dauphine.
Why aren’t they repeating this in 2013, or at the very least teaming up in the Dauphine?
Last year Brad Wiggins had Sky teammates Froome, Mick Rogers, Richie Porte, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Christian Knees and Edvald Boasson Hagen along for the ride in the Dauphine. The same guys, minus Boasson Hagen and Knees, also raced in Romandie.
Could there be a bigger difference?
In his glorious 2011 season, Evans raced 29 days before the Tour, with his final pre Tour de France race in the Dauphine. This followed the Tour De Romandie.
By the time Cadel finishes the Criterium International, he’ll have 13 race days under his belt for 2013.
Based on averages, he needs to double that number to be on a par with the final two years.
It’s hard to believe there’s a better pre-Tour de France double than Romandie-Dauphine for GC contenders.
And while it’s easy to accept that a race schedule on a website can be quickly updated, it’s not easy to imagine why BMC feel that once this weekend is over Cadel and Tejay aren’t “likely” to appear again until July.
As Pauline Hanson would say, “please explain?”
Fancy a wager on your favourite sport? Head on over to PlayUp for great odds and friendly customer service and pick a winner. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Australia's Jai Hindley has said he is "lost for words" after a shock stage victory at the Tour de France earned him the leader's…
Tadej Pogacar has won a drama-packed Tour of Flanders, winning in a breakaway with Matieu van der Poel second, Mads Pedersen third and Wout…
Women are not allowed to compete in the Tour de France. However you choose to re-read that sentence, the fact remains: the most famous…
The jam-packed month-by-month quiz full of 2022 sports trivia!
Australian Grace Brown has won silver in the women's time trial, the first event at the world road cycling championships.
