World champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) continues his Tour de France despite a fractured elbow.(Image credit: Brecht Decaluwé)
Cadel Evans (BMC) leads Giro champion Ivan Basso (Liquigas) on stage 12's final climb.(Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans (BMC) on the final climb(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) had an easy day today(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Cadel Evans (BMC) is out of overall contention at the Tour de France but the world champion is battling on in the race and will try to get through the Pyrenees and reach Paris, despite riding with a fractured elbow.
The tough Aussie rode the stage from Rodez to Revel with his left arm again covered in a crisscross pattern of black taping. It stops him bending his arm and aggravating the part of his elbow that is fractured, but makes it difficult for him to ride out of the saddle.
He finished safely in the peloton in 29th place in Revel, but knows it will be much tougher to reach Ax 3 Domaines on Sunday.
"Every year I have a Tour de France of experience and stories. Some of them are great and memorable but some of them aren’t," he told Cyclingnews philosophically on Saturday.
"The important thing is that I'm still in there. That's what counts now. I'm not risking my health and so there's no reason to stop. If you take yellow when you've got a broken arm, in your head you can go on."
Evans is 18th in the general classification, 8:08 behind Andy Schleck. It is a long way from where he hoped to be, but he knows he may lose more time before the Tour ends in Paris in a week's time.
"It's going to be hard on the climbs and I'm nowhere near my best even if my legs are good," he said.
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"I had a little bit of a test on the climb to Mende and I was 15th on the stage. It's a long way off where I hoped to be and the climbs in the Pyrenees are a lot longer. They will be far greater a test."
"I'll try and stay up there but when you've only got 60% of your strength in one arm and you're not able to extend your arm, it's a problem."
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
