Nice Way to Start?
by Chris Fontecchio on Sep 28, 2009 5:45 PM EDT
in Cafe Happy Hour!
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PrintAmong the reasons to make a big deal out of Evans' win yesterday is that he becomes the first Australian to wear the Rainbow Jersey, after some 25 years of significant Aussie presence in the peloton. Often times, people who do things first overshadow those who come later, or those who came earlier and didn't quite make it. The 2007 Red Sox were a much better team than 2004, and yet Kevin Millar will never have to pay for a drink in New England again. Anyway, IMHO Evans is one of two guys who you might look upon as Australia's First Champion. The case for Cadel would be that he's been THE breakthrough cyclist Australia has waited for, at least in the grand tours. No Aussie made the podium of Le Tour until Cadel did it with his two second-placings. His record contains a few other big wins, like Romandie in 2006. CQRanking has had him in the top four three years running, including #1 overall in 2007.
Next would be Phil Anderson. Anderson's claim to fame consists of some nice classic wins -- Amstel, Zurich, Paris-Tours -- and stage race wins at Romandie, the Dauphine and Tour de Suisse. He also won a maillot blanc and briefly wore the maillot jaune, the first non-European ever to do so. He and LeMond were the big story when they rose up simultaneously in the early 80s, crashing the Euro party, and there's a lot to be said for being a true pioneer, as Anderson was. In a way he and Evans are too different to compare, Anderson being a guy who almost won de Ronde while Evans is better suited to the climbs and long tours.
You could also throw in Stuart O'Grady, for his breakthrough sprint wins and Paris-Roubaix, or the country's most celebrated winner Robbie McEwen. My money is on Cadel. Incidentally, here is a list of first World Champions by country:
- Italy: Alfredo Binda (1927)
- Spain: Abraham Olano (1995)
- Belgium: Georges Ronsse (1928)
- France: Georges Speicher (1933)
- USA: Greg LeMond (1983)
- Switzerland: Hans Knecht (1946)
- Netherlands: Jan Janssen (1964)
- UK: Tom Simpson (1965)
- Ireland: Stephen Roche (1987)
- Germany: Heinz Muller (1952)
- Latvia: Romans Vainsteins (2000)
The Good: USA, Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, UK, Italy. The Forgettable: Germany, France, Switzerland, Latvia. Leaving only Georges Ronsse... seems like a worthy winner from his palmares, but considering the decorated Belgians who came later, meh.
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Anderson was a more complete rider
Starring at Flanders, Ardennes, week long stage races and the Tour (he may well have won but for incredibly poor team tactics one year) . He came second and third in a lot of races, but he won a lot too.
Evans, for all his achievements, needed to win a few big things to usurp Anderson. This is a big step to getting there. Anderson never won a monument or a GT. If Evans gets a GT or monument – well – he’s Australia’s best ever.
Anderson came close a few times in the Monuments
Twice second in Flanders, if I recall rightly, once when there were three left in the selection and his team-mate went up the road, with him marking.
And no slouch in the Grand Tours, as you say.
The problem is that coming close isn’t the same as standing on the top step. Evans has suffered from that a little, himself, of course. Now he has a big win, bigger than anything Anderson won.
I agree with you Runitout, if he managed to win L-B-L, say, or a GT, then there’s no question it’s Evans. Right now… He might just shade it.
Doesn't need to win la Doyenne
I think Lombardia would do it.* He likes Lombardia. Had a really good chance to win in 2004 when he was ordered to work for Nardello, who had nothing left. That must have been the final insult at T-mobile for him. It’s moot whether he could have beaten Cunego in that sprint but he certainly could have got ’round Basso.
*he says, like Lombardia is a gimme.
yeah, I was thinking of the LBL in 2006? 2005?
when he had a big dig on St Nicolas and blew the race apart. An attack that no-one seems to remember now. Finished 8th or so, but made the race.
Seeing Lemond's name reminded me of WCs in the 80s
And the names of the winners then are big GC riders of the era – from the top of my head I can think of Lemond, Saronni, Maertens, Hinault, Zootemelk, Roche … okay, I go blank then. But all of them were riders who featured in GCs – maybe not Saronni – can’t recall if he won a Giro or not* (Maertens was no pure sprinter, but a damn good climber too, with a GT win and top ten at the Tour iirc).
*(hey, I’m riffing here … !)
Were courses more selective then? Why did we end up with such poor winners in the 90s, and then sprint/non-GC dominated 00s?
Courses were a bit more selective
but the main difference is that Worlds occurred either right after or just before San Sebastian: i.e. in August.
There's some real quality in those names, Chris
Binda, while overlooked now, utterly dominated the Giro and won the Worlds three times. Speicher was none too shabby; Janssen a bit of a trailblazer for his country, Simpson and LeMond even more so.
It also speaks volumes that so few nations have won the race. Say what you like about a couple of the more recent winners; it ain’t easy to get on the top step.
Speicher
I never heard of. Binda was a legend.
ABRUZZIAM...uh oh
by Chris Fontecchio on Sep 29, 2009 1:43 AM EDT up reply actions
Something interesting to note....In the last 21 years (since 89), there has only been 6 different men from
a country that has never won the Worlds Road Race to podium in said race for a total of 7 times.
Denmark: Bo Hamburger and Matti Breschel, Silver and Bronze, 1997 and 2008
Poland: Zbigniew Spruch 2000, Silver (The famous crapshoot at Plouay)
Slovenia: Andrej Hauptman, 2001, Silver
Russia/Soviet Union: Dmitri Konyshev and Alexander Kolobnev, 1989 (DK) and 2007&’09, all three times silver.
With the lack of any agreed criteria
Then if you’re asking me, there will only be one answer. Y’all know who that is (or many of you would, at any rate).
Why? … because that race is #1 in my personal ranking, and the win was just… well, a bit like Tony’s performance on Thursday was for me, only more so. It is the only other race that has induced tears for me (and still does, occasionally… like when I saw ‘Road to Roubaix’, on the big screen… and then there was the Supermarket Incident, which some of you know about…).
Very subjective, but there ya go. I’d probably feel differently if I did not rank P-R above Worlds.
I'm with Lou...surprise, surprise
Although I think realistically your assessment is correct Chris, at least for Australians who are fans of the TDF rather than cycling in general. Objectively, and not undeservingly Cadel is the man.
I’m not entirely sure though that Australians who know cycling will agree, although they are being mean-spirited and petty if they don’t acknowledge Evans’ huge contribution. We famously, at least amongst ourselves, celebrate ‘ticker’ in sportsmen. The HTFU qualities of Stuey and the ‘mongrel’ in McEwen are widely applauded but not so much Cadel’s eccentricities.
Time I think will tell whether this really is the breakthrough and whether or not Cuddles will be ranked first among equals. John Landy is still considered our greatest "mile’ runner, although he didn’t win Olympic gold. Instead, in a race leading up to the Olympics, he stopped to help a fellow runner who had fallen. A statue outside Olympic Park in Melbourne is a rendering in bronze of that act of sportsmanship. So let’s wait and see how time and circumstance treat Evans, O’Grady and McEwen.
In the meantime Chris, thanks for the thoughtful piece.
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
not just any runner
Ron Clarke, future superstar. Landy then ran on to a 4’04" to win: he would have blitzed the world record if he hadn’t been so damned nice.
This piece gives a nice summary.
Although, I disagree on one thing: Landy was a great runner, no doubt, but I think people still rate Herb Elliott as Australia’s greatest miler.
*
On the topic of over-the-top sportsmanship, Pat Rafter made a habit of over-ruling line judges against himself, even in decisive tie-breaks. Serena must not have been watching TV then.
It's all interesting isn't it?
"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'
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