Hats off to the guy after riding todays stage with a fractured elbow.

tough as old boots and respect to him.. I still dont like hime though.

he looked a bit mental when interviewed after todays stage

Mind you if I'd ridden that far with a broken elbow and it's probably rather sore I'd look a bit bonkers

As an aside, he must be up there as one of the all time great mtbers. And he did manage to pull a couple of minutes back on the descent.

he often looks more than a little mental, mad as a box of frogs in fact, I like him and have a great deal of respect for him as he is tough as old boots and always gives his all despite getting his ass kicked all the time. He's kind of like Ulrich on acid.
"dont stand on my dog or I'll cut your head off", the mans a genius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fe79ZuDKfk

bosh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrpL6BA6PBQ&feature=related…

dont touch his sore shoulder either
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzHDmQP014w&feature=related

Don't like him at all – comes across as a complete nob.

Nevertheless, don't wish him any ills and respect to him for his talent and perseverance.

he broke is elbow in a crash in the first 6km of the stage on Sunday – so he rode pretty much all of that stage with a fractured elbow too, and took the yellow jersey that day.

remember that when you see a footballer rolling about on the floor.

He has a face that makes me want to punch him.

I have no idea why, i'm not a bad tempered or violent person either

He really comes across a bit 'special' when interviewed, and he reminds me of Truman Capote.

Why do people not like him?

I wouldnt be suprised to hear that he is slightly autistic

Why do people not like him?

He's Australian. Us Scots don't have any issues with the Aussies, but you little Englanders….

jimmyshand, well, he's a whining wheelsucker who cannot attack and he's a primadonna when interviewed.

Kudos for what he did today, mind you.

On the subject of comparing cyclists to footballers, remember George Hincapie broke his collarbone on Stage 17 last year, but still went on to ride 4 more stages and successfully lead out Cav on the cobbles of the Champs-Élysées.

Hincapie Fracture

I find Cadel somewhat strange too, but I have a massive amount of respect for his perseverance.

Beerlesswonder – Careful…

Massive respect for all of them . Cadel looked like he was having a tough day – as did many of them. Jens Voigt is a hard b******** though

wheelsucker who cannot attack

Which is no doubt how he got to be world champion. Why would he attack Shleck or Contador on a climb when it wouldnt work in his favour and he can out TT them. He might be a little special but he's not completely retarded.

Not keen on him myself. As someone above said he's struck me in the past as a little precious. However since wearing the Rainbow Jersey I have to admit to warming to him. Unlike a lot of World Champs of the last 20 odd years he has really done a lot to respect the jersey and I think his ride today was done in the same vein. I think he has a lot of respect for the history of cycling and tries to respect it. Good on him. Once again he has gained a lot of respect from me in this tour and today especially since finding out what he did today. Chapeau that man!

And respect to Lance too. It would be easy for a man with his palmares to call it quits knowing that he is out of contention now. As Paul Sherwen said in the years of the 7 tours he won he rarely put a foot wrong and any bad luck he had only seemed to fuel him on to greater feats. It does seem though that Lady Luck was saving up the real BAD luck for this Tour. Well done to him too. Not someone I like especially but do admire some of his achievements.

A great Tour so far this year.

I've been a cadel fan since he got the pink jersey in the giro in his first full season on the road and then cracked is spectacular style on the next stage, but he plugged on and didnt give up.

@CFH Cadel's a whining wheelsucker? Have you seen any racing in the last 12 months?
Just because the guy doesn't go out on some crazy doomed lone escape (not that he would be given the chance) and rides to his strengths don't make him a wheelsucker!
The guy is a class act

I agree the guy has come across as a bit of a kn0b in previous tours but I saw him give a brief interview in this years tour and fair dos to him – he really does seem to respect the rainbow jersey and what it and the tour stand for.

Cadel has never ridden for a team that had riders who could stay with him in the high mountains unlike other GC riders. His riding style has always reflected that fact, this year he has a bit more support, but unfortunately he ended up in the road at the start of Sundays stage.
I've always rooted for him since his staggiare days with Saeco.

The guy is tough no doubt about that.

As it would seem a lot of the pro's are proving this year, Tyler Fararr (?) riding with a broken wrist, the guy from sky breaking his arm and still finishing the stage.

Big respect to all of them

Riding with a borked wrist???

devs – 10 Under

And unlike footballers mainly earning fuxx all for their efforts

who is that Astana climber for contador he's a bit of a grafter too!

I've always thought that cycling has so much more support then football. Would football fans trek 20km up a mountain and sit by the side of a road for several hours just to catch a two second long glimpse of a footballer run past?

CaptainFlashheart –
well, he's a whining wheelsucker who cannot attack and he's a primadonna when interviewed.

Right-o, you truncheon. That will be how he triumphed at Fleche Wallonne, and the World Championships. Did you watch the Giro this year?

Chippy Aussie with a (lack of ) personality problem

evens does seem a bit odd but he also looks like that crazy frog ringtone cartoon.

"the guy who never attacks, is attacking!"

I've liked him since he used to lap me (multiple times) mtb racing in Canberra while he was at the AIS. He doesn't come across well in many interviews but that's not an accurate reflection of what he's like in person. His success this year is a long time coming and I think his more outwardly relaxed manner and relaxed riding style is a reflection of a weight he feels lifted from his shoulders. He is a true hard man and deserves all the success he's had. Really very sad about the broken arm – I was hoping this might be his year for the Tour…

tough guy, he might have won 10@kirroughtree if he was any good:-) i quite like his battling style but don't think he is quite in the same league as a few of the other top tour riders, so he always ends up suffering to stay in contention for the win. personally i'd be happy to see him win the tour but don't think he's capable of it.

the tour is skewed in favour of the climbers at the moment, if it had two long tt's he's be in with a shout.

Fair play – he's as tough as nails finishing 2 stages with that knackered elbow, and it's a shame he's out of the GC. Still a bit weird though!

CaptainFlashheart – Member
jimmyshand, well, he's a whining wheelsucker who cannot attack..

You know I'm actually really quite disappointed at you CFH for this (adopts best school teacher tone).

He attacks plenty as witnessed recently by his WC win and FW. What he doesn't do is attack when he can't or when it would then lead to him blowing to pieces shortly after and losing loads of time – eg when he's breathing through his ears already trying to stay with guys in the mountains who are fundamentally better climbers. How the hell can he attack? I really find it amazing that people lack the basic understanding of racing so much that they make this sort of stupid comment.

I don't like the way he comes across in interviews either (though interesting to hear from Sam who by the sounds of it actually has some first hand experience).

I remember reading about Tyler Hamilton when he broke his collarbone in the Tour a few years back. He had to get his teeth fixed afterwards as he ground them down from the pain (yes I know he was a drugs cheat but still).

I'm not sure that Lance was so "lucky" all those years maybe protected by his team from all the spills in the peloton ? Not so lucky any more. He still makes it interesting tho.

Fair play he was more bothered about letting his team down than anything else, hope he can pull some time back!

So we have established that Evans is a great cyclist and a crap interviewee.

It appears the latter is more important to some.

Hat's off to the guy.

He does remind me of Baron Greenback off Dangermouse.