2011 Tour De France, Stage 20: Cadel Evans Destroys Schlecks to Claim Yellow

It is remarkable that after 3,300 kilometres and 83 hours in the saddle, the 2011 Tour de France is still a race of seconds.

Of the top three riders, the gap between them was less than a minute. The battle for honours between Andy Schleck and brother Frank from the Leopard-Trek team and Cadel Evans from team BMC, came down to a total of 57 seconds.

Between them, the Schleck brothers are one of the finest climbing combinations in world cycling. Andy has been prominent in the Tour de France for the past three years, winning the best young rider jersey in each of those years and finishing second in the past two Tours.

Evans was runner-up in the Tour in 2007 and 2008, but injury, illness and team troubles cost him his 2009 Tour, and a fractured elbow last year destroyed his Tour chances.

This year, the Schlecks have looked to dominate the Tour and were the driving force behind the race.

They put together a magnificent team and attacked the last two stages over the biggest peaks in the Alps and did everything in their power to secure their victory before the individual time-trial of the penultimate stage.

Evans, on the other hand, did it the hard way. With an inferior team and little support within the peloton Evans had to counter every attack on his own, which he did with brute force and strength of character.

And so, the 2011 Tour came down to the time-trial. The Schlecks have always struggled with the ITT, Evans has always relished it.

While the Schlecks are built for climbing, Evans is built for riding cadence over long distances with power and precision.

And so it proved as the day unfolded.

History told us that Evans would outperform the Schlecks over this course and this distance, but it has been a grueling Tour with some massive stages and, as one reader has consistently pointed out, at 34 he’s heading towards the end of his career.

It would come down to who had the most left in the legs after the Alps.

As the time-trial unfolded it was clear that Evans would easily beat Andy Schleck.

At the 15km time check he had already pulled back 36 seconds, by the second check Evans was ahead and at the end of the stage, he had not only eclipsed the 57 second deficit, he had established a 1:34 lead over Schleck the younger.

In a remarkable performance, Cadel Evans secured victory in the 2011 Tour de France.

Thirty years after Aussie Phil Anderson became the first non-European to wear the yellow jersey, Evans becomes the first Australian to secure victory in the world’s greatest annual sporting event.

It must be a bitter pill for Andy Schleck to swallow. He takes out the runner-up position for the third year in succession. He will go on to win the Tour, probably many Tours, but today’s effort will take some time to process.

Evans now has the luxury of riding into Paris in the yellow jersey.

Tradition has it that no one attacks the yellow jersey leader on the final day of the Tour, so barring something very strange happening, he will be presented as Tour champion on the Champs Elysees tomorrow.

The emotion of the day, the culmination of a grueling Tour, and the burying of demons from Tours past burst through as Evans was presented with his yellow jersey. It was a magnificent effort, and one that should be applauded.

Jersey holders after Stage 20 (from www.letour.fr)

		141	EVANS Cadel	BMC RACING TEAM	83h 45' 20"
		171	CAVENDISH Mark	HTC - HIGHROAD	280 pts
		21	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	108 pts
		188	ROLLAND Pierre	TEAM EUROPCAR	83h 56' 03"
			TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO		250h 57' 43"

General Classification standings after Stage 20 (from www.letour.fr)

1.	EVANS Cadel	BMC RACING TEAM	83h 45' 20"
2.	SCHLECK Andy	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 01' 34"
3.	SCHLECK Frank	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	+ 02' 30"
4.	VOECKLER Thomas	TEAM EUROPCAR	+ 03' 20"
5.	CONTADOR Alberto	SAXO BANK SUNGARD	+ 03' 57"
6.	SANCHEZ Samuel	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 04' 55"
7.	CUNEGO Damiano	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 06' 05"
8.	BASSO Ivan	LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE	+ 07' 23"
9.	DANIELSON Tom	TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO	+ 08' 15"
10.	PERAUD Jean-Christophe	AG2R LA MONDIALE	+ 10' 11"