What's Old Is New

There are two riders right now who are riding like a throwback. One is good and one is, well, maybe not bad, but it isn't something I like.

That would be Cadel Evans. I know we're supposed to rally around the English-speaker, and I do tend to like the Aussies on the Tour, but I just can't bring myself to root for Evans. In fact, I desperately want him to lose. Nothing personal, but I just don't want to see someone rewarded for dusting off the old Inudrain strategy of "win the time trial and just hang on in the mountains".

It can be effective, just ask Indurain. But it is also excruciatingly boring. It's just not good for the sport for the contenders to not attack each other in the mountains. Now, if it's just one or two guys, like Evans and Menchov, I guess it's not a big deal. It's just one strategy and different styles are always welcome. But winning tends to breed imitators, and I'd hate to see Evans' strategy to be emulated. So I'm nipping it in the bud. I want him to lose, just so we see more attacking cycling.

And in just under 30 km, he put in at least a minute into every contender save Menchov and our other throwback, Kim Kirchen.

In fact, Evans didn't put any time into Kirchen. Kirchen took nine seconds from Evans, which means almost nothing. But Kirchen is doing something we just never see in this era of specialization: he's looking like a contender in two separate classifications.

Kirchen's probably not going to win the Tour, but he is a legit contender. And he's in 2nd place overall right now and can actually climb. He did finish 7th in last year's Tour and he's got a great team behind him. I think we need to take him seriously in the GC.

But he's also contesting the Green Jersey. He's not just in the Green as some fluke. He now holds a 17 point lead over Hushovd, and look at his finishes in each stage:

1st Stage - 4
2nd Stage - 2
3rd Stage - 11
4th Stage - 4

He was one of the strongest rider in the "classics" style stage. He was one of the first guys across the line in both bunch sprints we've seen. And unlike the other Green Jersey contenders, he can actually win points in the mountains. He doesn't have to win these sprints, just keep finishing top five and then pick up some more points in the mountains.

When was the last time we've seen a guy be a viable threat in both the Yellow and Green Jersey competitions? Hopefully, he can keep this up. He doesn't need to win, but it would just be great to see a guy legitimately contest in both classifications.