Tall Poppy?

I hate the phrase choker... unless of course you are talking about the All Blacks in the World Cup and then it is of course completely apt.

Some members of the British press have apparently savaged Cadel Evens for his inability to win this year's Tour de France.

Instead he had the audacity to fail completely and come second... for the second year in a row, in a race he rode without the team support Sastre had from CSC.

If there were to be a criticism of Cadel and his team it could be that he took the yellow jersey too early. Especially given that his team lacked depth and proved unable to provide the support he needed to maintain the lead all the way through the Alpine stages and into the time trial (oh yeah, he did ride faster than Sastre on that occasion too).

I am not sure that Cadel will ever win the tour. I am not sure that the pressure didn't get to him. I am not sure that it matters. The Tour is nothing if not unpredictable, some teams ride in breakaways to get themselves on tv and make good their sponsors investment, they simply have no hopes of winning a stage let alone the whole thing. It is an endurance race that requires extraordinary mental and physical strength and stamina. Anyone who makes it to the end (and many who don't) if they do it drug free deserves some respect. If you come second... well that is certainly no small achievement.

While the Australian press has not explicitly bought into the "Cadel's a choker" line something about this is more than a little off. I find myself wondering if their reporting of the British media story is a way of having your caking and eating it too. I mean the 'story' is all over the front pages of the Aussie papers online and faithfully and extensively reported. The quotes seem to be from one newspaper article in the UK paper the Times which again reinforces the sense that the Australian media is lopping off a tall poppy by stealth.

Get a grip journos. Most of us watch because we know we can't do, and you can bet your bottom dollar there is no one more disappointed than Cadel to have been the bridesmaid for a second year running.