He may be retired, but one Irish star just found out that Cadel Evans can still move on a bike! (Photo with thanks to @Ride_BMC)
In her always insightful sports column in The Irish Times, former world champion runner Sonia O’Sullivan has described meeting Cadel Evans by chance on a training spin in recent days and comparing notes on cycling and running.
Evans, the only Australian to win the Tour de France and also a former world champion, told Cork’s O’Sullivan he’d just run his first 10km race the day before their chance meeting on a spin near Melbourne.
Ever the competitor, and keen to assess Evans’ current condition off her own running standards; the former champion cyclist’s time – of 39:45 - just about met with O’Sullivan’s approval.
Advertisement
“(That) time is pretty good, even for a retired pro cyclist,” she said.
“I told him I had this theory that anything less than 40 minutes was a solid effort, until you reached age 40.
Related News
“Then you could work off faster than your age. At age 41 you should run 40 minutes; at age 42, 41 minutes, and so on.
“I could sense there was a quick calculation going on, after which he told me he was 39 and nine months shy of 40, so he was actually in line with my 10km running theory.
“I’ve definitely lost touch of the 40-minute mark, although am sure I can still sneak in under 47.”
O’Sullivan said as they turned into the headwind and Evans put the gas down a little she was left struggling for his wheel in a fight with the others in the group.
“All the ‘amateurs’ were also searching for the wheel of the former pro, and I was sent sliding backwards into the pack,” she said.
And so she eventually slotted onto the wheel of John Randall, who won the Australian TT title last year in the 85+ years ago group.
He was riding an E-bike, allowing him to train with the likes of Evans and simply use the motor when it was getting rough.
It’s a nice little piece by O’Sullivan in which she also talks about her love of cycling and the joy of a fresh challenge, as well as Katie Taylor turning pro. You can read the full column by following this link.
Topics
