Cadel Evans finished sixth overall in the three-day, two-stage Critérium International on Corsica this weekend. The Australian had mixed feelings about it, calling his race “neither good nor bad.” He is now shifting his focus towards the Giro d’Italia in May.
Evans admitted that Sunday was not the best of days. “Eighth on the stage and slipping back to sixth overall is not how I normally would like to end a stage race,” he said. On the other hand, it is only March and the season has been going good so far for Evans. “It is still very early in the year – not only for stage racing and the overall, but also for time trialing.
“It was my first time trial of the year. In the team everything is coming together with the equipment and the bike. It just takes a bit of time to get used to it and it is a bit difficult to simulate 75km/h in corners and roundabouts in training,” Evans said.
But some things cannot be foreseen at all. “In the first kilometer in the time trial a black cat crossed the road, so I thought I’d better be cautious through the roundabouts,” Evans said with a smile.
Overall, he thought he did well in his first race against the clock in 2010. “But I still have room for improvement,” he admitted. His next race individual performance will be the prologue in Holland for the Giro d’Italia.
Important training block
He is now entering a block of training, gearing up towards the Giro d’Italia. “Lately I have been racing rather than training. You can’t train on your time trial bikes when you race on your road bikes.”
He wants to do some refinements to his time trialing so everything will be in perfect condition when the important races are coming up. But it is important to keep a healthy mix of specific time trial training versus preparing for the high mountains. “It’s a normal thing for the Grand Tour riders to do – you ride a fair bit in the mountains and you ride a fair bit on your time trial bike.”
He also wants to fit in some of the classics, but not for his own account “I hope to be a useful helper for Karsten [Kroon] – it would be great if he could improve on his second place in Amstel last year.”
Overall, Evans was quite happy with the weekend, although some of the race did not play out the way he expected. “I thought the first stage would be more selective in the climbing side of things, which would have probably favored me a little bit more.” But there was wind and the expectation that Alberto Contador would take control the race. “He died right in the end; that was unexpected and changed the situation of the race.”
Evans will spend another night and day on the island of Corsica, together with his BMC teammates, but didn’t think they needed to build team spirit. “We have a good team spirit already. It’s a pleasure to be with the guys straight after a race. We really enjoy each other’s company, whether we are racing together or just being together.”