Australian feeling better in stage 10
World Champion Cadel Evans was targeting the Tour de France as a contender for the overall victory. But in a déjà vu to his 2008 crash, Evans had to bury his overall chances in the beginning of the second Tour week.
The tenacious Aussie is not about to give up and continues to race with his broken elbow. Evans called it a “good sign” that he was able to finish stage 10, a 179km trek from Chambéry to Gap.
“I felt much better but obviously it was a different kind of race today,” Evans said. The Australian will undergo additional X-rays later this week to determine if there is any displacement of the injury. Evans finished 44th on the day as Sergio Paulinho won from a breakaway.
Evans will really know how his health is holding up in two day’s time, when stage 12 sends the riders from Bourg-de-Péage to Mende. There are no less than five ranked climbs, with the category three climbs of the Côte de Saint-Barthélémy-le-Plain, Col des Nonières and the Côte de la Mouline. There are also two category two ascents, the Suc de Montivernoux (13.7km at 4.4 percent) and the Côte de la Croix-Neuve, a short 3.1km climb at an average gradient of 10.1 percent.
The Croix-Neuve is also nicknamed the Montée Laurent Jalabert, for the local boy won on this ascent in 1995>It was to the day 15 years ago, as Jalabert prevailed on Bastille Day, the French National Holiday. Back then he even had Miguel Indurain in trouble.
Evans is currently not thinking of winning stages. He will just to try to hang on for as long as he can live with the pain. His physical improvement is also lifting his spirits. “Another [Tour de Fr5ance] day done; much less dramatic day for me. Feeling a bit better too. Thanks so, so much for the support everyone,” he said on twitter.