Cadel Wins Tirreno-Adriatico

After taking the blue jersey on stage five of this Italian Classic, Cadel had a gutsy win at the finish of the uphill penultimate stage, securing an even tighter grasp on the jersey going into the final 10km time trial stage. Cancellara took out the final stage win for the time trial (as he so often does) and Evans held out to take out the overall GC win. This is a massive effort, it's his first Pro Tour stage race win since 2008 and hopefully it silences some of the haters who constantly winge that Cadel just doesn't have the ghoolies.

In 2009 he had an emphatic win at the world champs and I was in Geelong at the 2010 UCI World Champs and the Cadel I saw there definitely was not lacking in the ghoolie department. This was a tough and long course and he came very close to backing up the 2009 title. Check out the 'true grit' on the face as he storms up Highton's Heartbreak Hill!

Perhaps the only thing that you can take away from Cadel is that half of the worlds best cyclists were, at the same time as the Tirreno-Adriatico, competing on the other side of the Mediterranean, at the Paris-Nice! But come on, a win after being back on the tour after the winter break for only two weeks? That's pretty good. Nothing instills patriotism in me like an Aussie doing well on the UCI Pro Tour.

This win is a pretty bold statement leading up to the TDF, and should make Cadel one of the contenders debated by pundits in the lead up. Can't wait to see how it all pans out.