lululemon athletica

bmc cyclist cadel evans calls it a career


Not many athletes can say they retired at their own race, but on February 1, in a poignant end to a two decade-long career, cyclist and BMC team rider Cadel Evans will do just that—on home soil, nonetheless—at the first annual Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.

To put this into perspective, a finish of this calibre isn’t just grand, it’s unusual. How many cyclists even have a race named for them, after all? The achievement, however, is not one Cadel had really considered until the question was posed of him.

“I’ve never thought of it in that regard,” he says, laughing, over the phone from Adelaide where he recently raced in Australia’s renowned Tour Down Under for the last time (he placed third overall). “It’s an honour for me, from my state and my country, that a race would be put in my name.”

Considered one of professional cycling’s most aggressive and consistent racers, the 37-year-old’s retirement didn’t come as a shock to him or his team. “It was part of a plan,” he explains. “Sometimes circumstances decide for you, and no matter how hard you try to be at the top level, you have to have a lot of things going your way.”

Make no mistake, Cadel is no stranger to life at the top, he’s just a realist. “There were a few things that were going against me—related to my health—and things got to a point where I said, ‘I’m going to take the path of least resistance and step away from the sport at the top level.’”

While Australians remember well his triumphant win in 2011 at the Tour de France—he’s the only Australian ever to finish first in the historic race—that actually isn’t Cadel’s favourite career memory. “It’s certainly what I’m known for, but there are other moments that stand out for personal levels, or considering the situation at the time that I could go out and get certain results.”

One, he says, was becoming World Champion in 2009. “At the time I had a string of difficulties in sport, and a few setbacks that year. To come around and win that was all the more satisfying.” The prestigious win came with the honour of donning the distinctive rainbow striped jersey of a world champ during his reign, and permission to wear rainbow piping on his jerseys in all the years of his career thereafter. “Sometimes it’s a nice reminder when you put on your jersey in the morning and see those colours. You have them on there for the rest of your life, and that’s something that you carry with you whenever you ride and wherever you go.”

The BMC team racer is only positive about the next chapter in his life. “I want to remain involved, and because I don’t have to do this 30,000-something kilometres on a bike a year I’ll have lots of time and energy to put into other aspects of the sport,” he says, laughing again. He acknowledges that continuing his relationship with BMC and the cycling community also gives him “one more reason to stay on my bike and stay fit and healthy.”

Besides, while he’s best known on the saddle, Cadel’s contribution to the cycling world actually goes well beyond making it across the finish line first. Supporting such foundations as Ian Thorpe’s Fountain for Youth, the Amy Gillett Foundation, Free Tibet and Orygen Youth Health, he’s always been generous with his time and energy outside of racing. By all signs it’s a pace he’ll keep post-retirement, too. Even his eponymous, one-day race along Victoria’s picturesque Great Ocean Road is “a fantastic way to give back to the sport that’s given me so much,” he says.

What he is most looking forward to, though, is “not having the long trips away from my son.” A family man, the travelling and month-long periods overseas for tours and training has been a difficult sacrifice. Asked if he thinks retirement will be liberating, Cadel laughs again. “Yeah I think it will be. (As a professional cyclist) you don’t seem to have much time for the simple things in life. I’m looking forward to getting some of those things back.”

While ending his career at his very own race will be an historic event in the world of cycling, for Cadel it’s the anticipated evolution of the race he’s most excited for. “The first year, of course, is our chance to make an impression. So we hope that we have good weather,” he says, hinting at the region’s infamously unreliable seasons. His long term vision is to grow the race into a world tour level event with international competitors. “On a personal level, I’d love if some young girls or young boys go see the race, and be inspired by it. And maybe one day they come back in say, 20 years or something, and win the race.”

As for how he’ll compete this weekend, the plan is “same as always,” he says. “I come here, train as best I can, prepare as best I can, and just go for the best result possible.”

He admits that as this will be his last race, “I do, this time, have a little bit more emphasis on just being here and enjoying it.” Then, forever a champion, he adds, “But I’m still competitive. That competitive spirit burns inside me and so I’ll be going and giving everything I can.”

Images courtesy ©Sirotti


Bonnie is a blogger, keen traveller, food lover, and podcast listener. Whether it’s making homemade beef jerky, shoulder shruggin’ to some hip hop, working on her jiu jitsu or practicing her handstands, you can follow along on Instagram.

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