Cadel and Contador not so different

Bucking the modern-day, Armstrong-led trend of targeting just one or two races a year, Cadel Evans’ performance last Sunday reminded Anthony Tan of another superstar who has a voracious appetite for glory.

"I do like this about Cadel Evans," enthused Eurosport commentator David Harmon in the closing kilometres of Sunday's Amstel Gold Race.

There was 25 kilometres to go in the 257.3km race. With a still 100-strong peloton dashing through the characteristically vertiginous, winding and narrow (read: perilously sketchy) roads of Holland's South Limburg region, one could almost sense a crash was imminent.

Twenty-six climbs down, and approaching the fifth-to-last climb of the Kruisberg, the rainbow-striped Evans was leading the swishing serpentine trail that would culminate in the final ascent of the Cauberg, where it would be every man for himself.

BMC team-mate Karsten Kroon, second last year to Russian Serguei Ivanov, was glued to his wheel.

Less than 500 metres after Evans took control and the very first corner after he did so, there was a crash that took out AG2R's René Mandri. He wasn't getting up in a hurry…

Harmon: "Cadel Evans, absolutely stringing them out… He doesn't shirk the work, does he, even though he's world champion?"

Replied his co-commentator Graham Jones, one of the 'foreign legion' of Anglophones that infiltrated Europe in the early-to-mid-1980s along with our own Phil Anderson, both honours graduates of the famous ACBB (Athletic Club de Boulogne Billancourt): "No – and you know if Cadel Evans is on the front and he's put his head down, this is going to string them out before the climb, and you would expect to see some sort of selection over the climb, you would think."

On the Kruisberg, Marco Marcato (Vancansoleil) did attack near its crest and forged a handy gap, but there wasn't the selection Jones was expecting.

That happened on the following climb of the Eyserbosweg, which eventually created a very dangerous five-man move and neither Kroon nor Evans was there.

Harmon: "And the chase-down work done by…"

Jones: "Cadel Evans! He's still there, after doing a lot of work on that other climb [of the Kruisberg], doing a lot of work to close this down."

So far unable to respond to any of the moves in the closing 10 kilometres, quite clearly, Kroon wasn't having his best day. But Evans instilled hope in his Dutch team-mate, and should it come down to a sprint of sorts on the 12 percent, 1,450 metre ascent of the Cauberg, maybe Kroon could find something extra.

Evans did so much work to bring Kroon back, he was dropped from the chase group that only moments before he was leading. "Looks like the day is run for him," said Harmon.

Jones: "I don't think he's in the same condition [as he was in September 2009] at this time of year. I think Cadel Evans will be looking at the Tour de France; I think he really wants to make amends for the Tour de France of last year, so I don't think he's anywhere near tip-top condition."

Harmon was wrong. And given Cadel specifically told me at the start of the year he won't leave anything behind at May's upcoming Giro d'Italia before he tackles France's Big Loop, Jones was also incorrect.

Evans found a second wind, and found himself back onto the chase group that caught the last of the escapees in the township of Valkenberg, right at the bottom of the Cauberg.

Gilbert, as we now know, was untouchable; Kroon didn't have anything left, finishing ninth, 11 seconds behind. And quite incredibly, Evans was just two places behind him.

That Cadel rides prestigious events such as these – races he could win himself, if he chose to – so unselfishly is testament to his character. "Cadel closed some gaps and was really strong," said Kroon post-race. "Obviously it was a big honour to have him there to help me."

I also agree, to an extent, with Jones' comments, saying he doesn't think Evans is in the same condition as he was when he won the world's in Mendrisio. That's obvious.

He's probably at about 80-85 percent, and after Wednesday's La Flèche Wallonne and Sunday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he'll most likely be at 85-90 percent.

If he choses to, he could stand on the podium in either of those. Evans' 90 percent is a 'no-chain' day for the majority of his colleagues.

And unlike many of today's riders, Evans, even if he is targeting the Giro and Tour this year, doesn't go to other races just to make up the numbers.

In fact, Cadel's a bit like Alberto Contador – quiet, unassuming, doesn't talk trash but instead gets on with the job, and tries to play a part in every race he enters.

Only Contador seems to win every time he puts on a number.