Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

The title of this thread is 'Allez Cadel' and it was exactly what we were yelling at the TV yesterday afternoon as Cadel Evans made his way up the Tourmalet and the final climb to Hautacam. On one of the hardest stages of the race the Australian on the Belgian squad finished 2 minutes and 17 seconds behind the stage winner to gain the leader's yellow jersey by a solitary second.

Cadel has had a steller opening week to the Tour de France, the highlight being his performance against the clock in the first Individual Time Trial. Over a relatively short distance he managed to beat all of his major rivals by a fair distance, scaring a few who thought that he would have to hold out until the penultimate Time Trial over more than 50km to make big gains. He has ground out fair perfomances in the Pyranees over the last few days - nothing fantastic but steady and consistent - and now is looking forward to defending his place at the head of the peleton over the coming days as the race heads towards the Alps.

Odds on Cadel taking out the big prize in Paris have shortened considerably since the start of the race. I managed to get on him at $3.00 a few weeks ago and - checking the status this morning - saw he is now a $1.66 favourite. The betting shops can't account for the all the possible events that might see Cadel pushed out of first place before the 27th of July but it's encouraging the see that punters are feeling confident about the boy from Katherine.

So what's ahead for Cadel? There are a couple of rolling stages before the moutains reappear and take up everyone's attention again. The Alps will test all the riders before the final Time Trial from Cérilly sorts out the winners from the losers in the race for overall glory. There's a reasonable chance that Cadel will lose the yellow jersey before Paris and win it back on the second-to-last stage but it will come down to the efforts of his team and the desire amongst his rivals...and you can bet that anyone not in yellow will keep trying to win it off his back.

For the interested, a couple of sites to keep track of Cadel's efforts are the blog of Cadel's wife, Chiara, the official site of the race and Pez Cycling News for an entertaining take on the 2008 TDF.

My apologies, Dylan, but I want to make a comment about last night's Wimbledon Men's Final.

My family didn't have a TV until 1967. Why we finally succumbed (given that Canberra finally was networked in 1962) is not a story fit for Webdiary. Nevertheless, once we had it, in the teeth of my father's objections, he became an addict.

No more so than when the tennis was on, and of course the biggest draw of all was Wimbledon. So, every year, we would watch until the wee sma, going to work/school next day with dark circles under the eyes. (Query: how can one have circles under one's eyes?)

For me, the quintessential Final was that of 1975, when Arthur Ashe defeated Jimmy (the Brat) Connors (the "brat" title was rapidly assumed by John McEnroe). I don't think I have ever been so engrossed in a tennis match - and for me, of course, it was the only possible result.

These days, my present house is too cold, and I am too sleepy, to stay up all night. Nevertheless, I did have the radio on and listened, drifting in and out of sleep, until that longest of all finals came to an end. What a match. What a result. Are we really so lucky as to be seeing the two greatest ever male tennis players at the same time? Are we also so lucky as to be seeing two of the greatest and most generous players of all time? Federer's speech was honest, touching, magnanimous. So different to Pete Sampras - yes, I know he was never defeated at Wimbledon - but, whenever he did lose it was always because his ankle or whatever was playing up, never that his opponent had outplayed him.

So, Roger and Raffa, I salute you both.

Dylan Kissane, I thought you might enjoy last night's Perspective on ABC Radio National from Will Hallahan. Here's a teaser for you:

Every once in a while, after years of planning and saving and convincing my boss that I deserve a long holiday, and if my prayers that interest rates stay low are answered, I book a European holiday. Workmates and distant relatives, on hearing the news that I am bound for Paris with a bike in tow, smile, nod their heads and, in an earnestly sincere attempt to evince a genuine interest in my travels, ask: 'oh, will you be riding the Tour de France?'

The Tour makes good television. The scenery is often stunning, and the race itself provides some great images and drama. With good commentators to locate you in the race and explain the details, I start believing I understand the complexities. And Paul's comment about rhythm is spot on.

I like the breakaways - the proud heroes, out in front, doing it for the sponsors. The peloton, cruising, waiting. Usually it was just for the sponsors, and our hero tires, slows, and is soon watching the peleton, still cruising, fade into the distance. But sometimes you see the peleton decide enough is enough, and pick up the tempo. The pack has its own issues, though. The breakaway's team-mates think there's a chance for a stage win, so they'll get to the front to slow the pack down. Aspirants to the Green Jersey want the win, so they will get to the front as well, to increase the pace. Meanwhile, Yellow Jersey sits back, surrounded by his muscle, content to finish the stage at the front of the pack. Sometimes, very rarely, the breakaway crosses the line first, with not a bike in sight behind him. This is the stuff of legend, and makes the sponsors very happy.

My recollection is that before McEwen made his spectacular dive over the cliff last year there seemed to be confusion over the team's aims. They had chances for both Green and Yellow, and, particularly since McEwen was doing so well, weren't sure where best to put the effort. Since they're keeping their options open at the start, the workhorses are more balanced than designed for either strategy. (Dylan's point, at least roughly.) With McEwen doing so well early, the team is putting in more work on the sprints than you would going for Yellow. Which means they are buggered on the mountains. It was noticable towards the end that Evans didn't have the team about him that Contador and the other leaders did.

And a seasonal movie: Les Triplettes de Belleville. Not to everyone's taste, from the IMBD comments, but I like it.

Thanks for that, Dylan. 

You must do a bit of cycling, then. The mountain stages in particular look hard work. In fact it all looks hard work.

Paul, Cadel Evans is from Katharine in the Northern Territory. I'm not sure whether this precludes him from having some sort of connection to a town on the Murray but he is certainly not an SA boy.

As for costing McEwen, there is probably a little bit of truth to this. Teams in a stage race choose theiir riders based on an overall race strategy. Not all teams have a rider capable of winning the race overall and, indeed, not every team goes into the race even thinking about winning the race. Some teams qualify for the race on 'wildcard' spots (usually French teams) and ride the race with the aim of getting their jerseys - and therefore their sponsors - in front of the TV cameras for long periods. As a result, these weaker teams may spend the first week doing nothing more than trying to escape the rest of the field knowing that they will likely be caught after a couple of hours of effort - and the sponsor gets 2 hours of free promotion across the world.

Other teams - such as Evans' and McEwen's Davitamon-Lotto squad in years past - enter with the aim of winning the Green Jersey (usually for sprinters) and stock their team with the sorts of riders who will help their sprinter get over the line first. When Davitamon-Lotto worked to win this jersey for McEwen it meant stocking the squad with bigger, heavier and stronger riders who would help him in the final kilometres.

This year, however, Davitamon-Lotto is gearing up for an all out assault on the biggest prize of all: the Yello Jersey for Cadel. This means a much more balanced team is required, including adding in perhaps two or three specialist climbers (the guys who actually enjoy riding up mountains) to help pace Cadel in the most difficult stages. There'll be a couple of strong riders to help chase on the flatter stages and, of course, there'll be Robbie McEwen to try and win in the sprints. The difference, though, is that he won't have all the help he did in previous years as the goal of the team is not winning Green but winning Yellow.

So will the team working for Cadel make it less likely that McEwen wins stages? Probably - without the support of a strong team willing to put it all on the line in the final kilometres it is hard to win. Then again, McEwen is a pretty handy bike rider most of the time and even without a lot of support he might (hopefully) still pull off a stage or two.

Reading somewhere this elevation of Cadel Evans comes at the expense of the mercurial Robbie McEwen.

This fellow (Evans) is South Australian, so presumably his name has a connection with the old irrigation block and paddle steamer town of the same name on the Murray.

Anyway, have come to regard the Tour as a good buzz, both for the competition and the scenery. Has its own rhythm that onlookers find themselves slipping into.