We mentioned earlier we’re not huge fans of Cadel Evans, though we think less of ourselves for that. He’s gritty and tough as nails–a description that fits any rider in the Tour, though he’s faster than most of them. He’s also nastier than most of them if you judge by what you can see in public. Early in the Tour, Evans swatted a motorcycle-mounted gendarme whom he thought was riding carelessly. It was a great moment–on live TV and everything. As The New York Times notes in a story the rider’s antics of the past few stages, “Evans might be the only living person not in custody to have punched a Gendarme.”
Other choice Evans moments: Screaming at and batting at reporters who brushed against his injured left shoulder after he gained the yellow jersey in the Pyrenees. Head-butting a camera that got in his way after he lost the jersey in the Alps. And threatening, “I’ll cut your head off!” to someone who nearly stepped on his dog after one race.
Such behavior draws all sorts of head shaking and clucking of tongues. It is ugly, of course. But face it, what’s more delightful than watching some luminary losing it in public. We can only hope someone provokes Evans again on Saturday and gets him off his game enough that he finishes second or third overall on Sunday. That way he can do a reprise of his Paris Podium Pout of last year.
Below: The Worst of Evans, by way of YouTube.
Above: Evans after winning the yellow jersey. What a sweetheart.
Above: Evans shows helmeted head-butt technique. Cadel, would you mind winning a stage for my grandson Jimmy, who’s laid up with a touch of brain cancer?
Above: “Don’t stand on my dog, or I cut your head off.” Odds-on front-runner for The International Bicycle-Riding Pet Advocate of the Year!
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