The 2011 Tour de France is now complete and Australian Cadel Evans claimed the first overall victory for his country and also the first overall victory for Santa Rosa-based BMC Racing in the second entry for the team. The victory allowed Cadel Evans to regain the number one ranking in the UCI World Tour. Australia is considering ways to honor Evans, including a national day of honor or a monument.
Evans was able to march to victory thanks to a consistently strong performance over the entire three week race. He only claimed one stage victory but he was consistently near the front of the pack throughout the race and avoided the accidents and pitfalls that claimed Santa Rosa-based Levi Leipheimer.
Below is a rundown of Evans' stage-by-stage performance, as well as where he sat overall after each stage. As the numbers show, Evans rarely fell too far back in the 150+ cyclist pack. For the various stages with large virtual ties he was almost always in the mix for the tie. His worst non-tie stage performance was 7:37 back in Stage 13, but he was still mixed in with other general classification cyclists, so it really wasn't a "bad" performance.
Aside from consistent performances and avoiding the early accidents, the difference for Evans came in the Alps and then on the individual time trial. Day two in the Alps saw Andy Schleck make his first move to capture the yellow jersey from Thomas Voeckler. Although Schleck fell just short he made a significant leap to within 15 seconds of Voeckler. While Schleck leap-frogged Evans, the Australian was still able to gain ground on Voeckler, who was still wearing the yellow jersey.
The next day saw Schleck take the yellow jersey, but once again Evans gained ground, this time on Schleck. Both days Andy Schleck looked ready to run away with things in the Alps, Evans was right there to prevent such a runaway. Even as Schleck capture the yellow jersey, Evans climbed to within 57 seconds in advance of a time trial he was favored to dominant.
On the penultimate day of the Tour, Evans did in fact dominate the time trial to capture the yellow jersey and turn Sunday's final stage into a victory ride. While Andy Schleck was worn out from his push in the Alps, Cadel Evans managed to kick it up a gear to move 1:34 ahead of the Luxembourg cyclist. Sunday's final stage had green jersey points up for grabs but the yellow jersey was decided.
Stage-by-Stage Recap
1 - 2nd - 3 seconds back back of Philippe Gilbert
2 - Overall: 3rd, 1 second back of Thor Hushovd
3 - Stage - 35th, virtual tie; Overall: 3rd, 1 second back of Hushovd
4 - Stage - 1st, virtual tie; Overall: 2nd, 1 second back of Hushovd
5 - Stage - 11th, virtual tie; Overall: 2nd, 1 second back of Hushovd
6 - Stage - 12th, virtual tie; Overall: 2nd, 1 second back of Hushovd
7 - Stage - 22nd, virtual tie; Overall: 2nd, 1 second back of Hushovd
8 - Stage - 3rd, 0:15 back; Overall: 2nd, 1 second back of Hushovd
9 - Stage - 6th, 3:59 back; Overall: 3rd, 2:26 back of Thomas Voeckler
10 - Stage - 24th, virtual tie; Overall: 3rd, 2:26 back of Voeckler
11 - Stage - 50th, virtual tie; Overall: 3rd, 2:26 back of Voeckler
12 - Stage - 5th, 0:30 back; Overall: 3rd, 2:06 back of Voeckler
13 - Stage - 25th, 7:37 back; Overall: 3rd, 2:06 back of Voeckler
14 - Stage - 4th, 0:48 back; Overall: 3rd, 2:06 back of Voeckler
15 - Stage - 29th, virtual tie; Overall: 3rd, 2:06 back of Voeckler
16 - Stage - 11th, 4:23 back; Overall: 2nd, 1:45 back of Voeckler
17 - Stage - 20th, 4:26 back; Overall: 2nd, 1:18 back of Voeckler
18 - Stage - 3rd, 2:15 back; Overall: 4th, 1:12 back of Voeckler
19 - Stage - 5th, 0:57 back; Overall: 3rd, 0:57 back of Andy Schleck
20 - Stage - 2nd, 0:07 back; Overall: 1st, 1:34 ahead of Schleck
21 - Stage - 56th, virtual tie; Overall: 1st, 1:34 ahead of Schleck