Lets be real about this arguement- Cadel Evans is not a­ real Tour contender- a top 3 at best!imply does not­ have the pure ability and lacks that agression that all­ the former Tour De France winners had-including my­ favourite, Armstrong! watch this boy go over the next­ couple of days!!!

I think today's stage really tell us a great deal­ about what's going on between Armstrong and­ Contadour. Contadour is probably the real favourite but­ the fact remains the he ( Contadour) never left the­ wheel of Arstrong for most of the final clim begs the­ queations- does Contadour see Armstrong as the real­ threat to win the Tour? The next couple of says will­ reveal a geat deal-johan Brunell will have a lot on­ his mind tonight!

re Roche, i did say 'if i was to be overly­ critical', so of course i dont think he only won­ those two races based on those two interpretations of­ events. Anyway, the 'Cadel must attck' argument­ may be obselete after seeing how fast Contador was­ going when he went today. Impressive.

he tried to attack today, but it lasted about three­ seconds!

Roche won the triple crown in 87, you do not win that­ by being everyones friend he won them by being­ agresive, Kelly was favoutrite to win World­ Championships for Ireland and when he crossed the line­ he cryed with joy for Roche, not being attacked by his­ team mate. Evans is a good rider and if he was on a­ good team he would be a threat but with his present­ team he will be top 10.

well said ray

That's a bit harsh, dem162. Roche won the giro­ because he was the best rider in the race against all­ the odds and abuse he suffered. Visentini was a poser­ and when he was put under pressure in the mountains he­ cracked. In the tour, yes, Jean Francois Bernard did­ puncture but it wasn't as if Roche attacked. All­ the main contenders just kept riding. This business of­ waiting for a rider when he punctures is ridiculous­ anyway. You seem to also forget the way he came back on­ La Plagne to within 4 seconds of Delgado. That was when­ he won the Tour. He was one of the greats in my book­ anyway.

Obviously Roche is a respected voice within cycling,­ worthy of listening to but his comments are in the­ capacity of a media expert, not a DS so they can be­ taken with a grain of salt. Roche is a great example­ tactically for guys like Cadel to emulate, as his 87­ Tour win was virtually done on his own, apart from­ support from Eddy Schepers and Millar. The sport­ appears to have come a long way though from the­ 80's in the way it is raced, but perhaps im wrong!­ If i was to be overly critical of Roche, he won a Giro­ by betraying a team mate, and a tour by attacking a­ Yellow Jersey when he had punctured, but i wont go­ there!Anyway, the sensible option today is to just see­ how the race unfolds,find that climbing rythum and wait­ for tommorrow, as Cadel said, its no mean feat to­ simply ride away from the best climbers in the world at­ the Tour.

riders will be sent to the front to ride a high tempo­ and make it very hard to attack, that and most gc­ riders will say it to early to make big effort and save­ it for later. i dont see gc riders attacking each other­ until mont ventoux. sastre waited to last mountain lasy­ year!

Stephen is right in what he says but the same can be­ said for the others... It is a gamble for Evans to­ attack this early and show some of his cards but he has­ to be prepared to do it himself as his team are not­ strong enough to help.

demi162, with all due respect,­ Stephen's comments can be applied to 99.9 percent­ of all cyclists but he was never a shrinking violet­ during his career. He won the triple by attacking­ riding either to get away or to bring back people.

It­ is time for all the big boys to flex their muscles and­ with a rest day around the corner why not give it a go?­ Most of them are strong enough that if they are­ ultimately caught they should hang on to the finish.

I would personally love to see Evans attack, but he­ won't - not today. A big attack so early would be­ a very bold move and that simply isn't his style. ­ He's usually pretty good in the final week of GTs,­ so he'll bide his time and hope to take advantage­ of the fatigue of others. Saxo Bank and Astana will­ have to ride hard to protect positions and jerseys. ­ Sastre will probably adopt the same tactic - difference­ is Astana are frightened of his (Sastre's)­ potential to blow the race apart on the Ventoux. No­ one believes Evans has the capacity to blow the race­ apart - on the Ventoux or anywhere else.

..i wouldn't be surprised if cadel gives the dice a­ roll and tries to attack - but it won't be today,­ everyone will be expecting it. it will come later,­ unfortunately his team will probably make it painfully­ obvious on the day by sending mathew lloyd off early.­ it might be just me and a bit premature, but it seems­ to me that the outcome of this tour has been greatly­ influenced by the TTT and not as most cycling fans­ would have it...on the slopes.

Cadel Evans is Mr. consistency, but he has NEVER­ attacked in his life. You could bet him reaching top 5­ for 5 consecutive Tours, but I would not bet a cent on­ him winning. Unless all others test positive...

theoretically it wouldnt be bad for cadel to attack but­ i just cant see that being possible, surely astana will­ control the race today as lance used to with us postal,­ astana has the depth and strength to set a pace that ­ will make it impossible to break away, cadels best bet­ then is to wait stick with the leaders and later on in­ the tour if the leaders show weakness to attack then, i­ just cant see astana allowing that to happen so early­ on and cadel will just end up wasting a lot of energy­ trying to pull off the impossible. good luck to him if­ he can and it would sure make for an exciting stage­ today as if it isnt going to be exciting enough with­ the lance alberto rivalry also going on not to mention­ the schlecks and others...

I can't imagine Evans attacking the likes of­ Schleck, Sastre, Contador or Armstrong in the­ mountains. His team lacks depth and he will be likely­ on his own again whereas the others will be protected­ by their Saxobank, Astana teammates. Besides when the­ opportunity arises he lacks the ability to surge when­ he needs to.

The fact of the mater is Cadel has no other option. ­ Funny how some people can not read that this is a forum­ about Cadel... not Armstrong. Attack Cadel...­ AAAATTTTTACK.

ya he will attack for sure and end up in the back­ ground, he is a nice guy but this Tour will end up his ­ contention to ever win the Tour, I see Lotto losing­ there believe in him so he is about to fade away
he­ aint make Top 3.

Roche is right it is time for Evans to put his head­ down go like hell and see what happens even if astana­ covers and takes the stage who gives a @#$% he is not­ going to win riding wheels