Tour de France - The agony and the ecstasy

Cycling is a cruel, cruel sport and no-one will have been able to console Cadel Evans during what must have been a very long and very lonely night.

For the second year running Evans has been forced to chase a man against the clock and in that glance up at the timer ticking away the seconds at the finish line feel nothing but heartache. On both occasions it has been a Spaniard who has triumphed against the Australian in the last great challenge of the Tour to France, to seal the win.

There is nowhere to hide in the individual time trial and Cadel, by his own admission does not understand what happened to him yesterday. Was it his legs? A week of covering the every move of a raft of rivals, isolated and increasingly tired against the might of the CSC team could have stripped the last ounces of energy from his body. Or was it something more? Did the wheels come off the Evans’ chariot? Did he suffer as badly in his head as he did in his body? If Cadel did indeed feel the pressure then with each passing year his confidence when approaching the Tour will be less and less, even as his home support in Oz continues to grow.

Many followers of this year’s race have expressed the opinion that Evan’s conservative, non-attacking riding made him somehow ‘unworthy’ of the overall win. This is clearly not just rubbish but shows a complete lack of understanding about what it takes to win the Tour.

Not every rider is capable of riding with panache, although it must be remembered that Evan’s wins early in the season came from attacks. The Australian does not have a style or physique that allows him lightening attacks when he is already riding on thee limit of fatigue, he needs to make a plan and stick to it. In addition, in the days of Merckx, Hinault or Fignon maybe only 10 or 15 riders would find themselves together at the crucial moment in the mountains, now there are 30 or more. Attacking with ‘panache’ is not as easy as it once was.

All of which serves to highlight just what a great win this is for Spaniard Carlos Sastre. A long way from good form in the Dauphine Libere and only 12th in the national time trial championships in Spain, the quiet, relaxed climber steadily rode himself into form as exactly the right moment and then struck with fearsome precision on Alpe d’Huez..

Sastre has ridden the Tour de France 8 times, finishing 10th, 9th, 8th, 4th and 3rd up until now. In fact the man from Madrid has only ever won 5 professional races in a career that has spanned 11 years.

It has been a long apprenticeship but finally everything needed to win the Tour as converged at the right time; The best team, the best form, the mental strength, the experience of competition in this toughest of races and yes….a degree of panache.

Chapeau Carlos

David Harmon is Eurosport's Tour commentator