Spyns 2011 Tour de France Trip Packages: Cadel Evans Crashes...Again!

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Cadel riding his "gluteus
maximum" off.

In a previous blog post, I (presciently) wrote that Cadel Evans could win the 2011 Tour de France. If only he could stay on his bike. Former Spyns clients know I deeply respect the Australian rider, despite his rather obvious reckless streak. In fact, I can't quite recall a Tour without a spectacular Evans-style crash. As Spyns gears up for our 2011 Tour de France tours, Cadel is crashing yet again.

A recent quadriceps injury will keep Cadel Evans from starting Sunday's Amstel Gold Race and defending his title at the Flèche Wallonne next week. Evans hurt his right knee when he crashed on March 31 while riding near his Swiss home. BMC team doctor Max Testa said an MRI performed on Monday this week revealed there was a still a small bruise on the knee bone. "From a medical standpoint, he's out of competition for at least the next five days," Testa said. "Keeping him out longer will help the ultimate injury outcome and also give him time to get training to return on the top end."


Evans was disappointed not to be participating in the Ardennes Classics. "Normally, I thought I'd be back by now, but I had a check-up Tuesday and the injury has proven to be more of an obstacle than we first thought," he said. "What seemed and was first diagnosed as bruising to the vasto mediale has since been diagnosed as bruising also to the femur. Something that takes a little longer to heal. I had wanted to be a helper for Greg Van Avermaet at Amstel Gold and on a good level for Flèche Wallonne. But this won't be a long-term problem, especially for my preparation for the Tour. It's just a little hiccup along the way," added Evans. While I'm impressed Cadel knows the latin name for his injured muscle, it suggests he's had so many injuries that latin has now become a second language.

BMC directeur sportif John Lelangue said the team's approach for Sunday's 260-kilometer race will not change. "We're still riding for Greg Van Avermaet, but we're losing a really good guy with Cadel - first as a teammate for Amstel and also as a leader for Flèche Wallonne," Lelangue said. Barring any complications, Evans will return to action at the Tour de Romandie (April 26-May 1). The BMC line-up for Amstel Gold Race will thus be: Marcus Burghardt, Matthias Frank, Martin Kohler, Jeff Louder, Manuel Quinziato, Ivan Santaromita, Mauro Santambrogio and Greg Van Avermaet.


Spyns wishes Cadel a speedy recovery. Perhaps yet another injury will help Evans tame his "balls out" riding style in time to win a much-deserved yellow jersey in the 2011 Tour de France.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in 2011 Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. We specialize in providing clients with Tour de France bike and non-biking packages with Paris grandstand seats and VIP access. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please go to http://www.tdf-tours.com/ or http://www.spyns.com/. You can also call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns 2011 Tour de France Tours: PIGS; Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and now Spain

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'O bailout, wherefore art thou?

We're just a few months away from Spyns 2011 Tour de France trips. As we put the final touches on our rides, restaurants, and non-riding activities, my thoughts again turn to the Eurozone. I don't know who coined the term "PIGS" but I sure would like to buy her dinner. I am of course referring to the acronym describing Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain as the Eurozone countries most likely to default on their debts.

To put things in a cyclist's perspective, the Spanish aren't known for their strict attention to detail. Few were surprised when Alberto Contador was cleared of doping charges because Spanish authorities are seen as been somewhat less stringent than...the rest of the planet. Little surprise when the UCI (cycling's highest international body) appealed the decision effectively saying they had little faith in Spain's decision. Turning to the issue of debt, the Spanish government spends most of its time saying it does not require a bailout but the facts suggest otherwise.

The paralells between Ireland in 2008 and present-day Spain are frightening...as is the European Union's rhetoric. Back in 2008, anyone and everyone was saying Ireland had successfully avoided financial armageddon. The Irish government guaranteed all bank deposits, swiftly recapitalised major banks, created a "bad bank" for toxic assets, and drastically cut spending. And yet the Irish still required an international bailout in November 2010. Move forward to 2011. Spain has done all of these things and, yet again, everyone is breathing premature sighs of relief. There is one factor both governments didn't take into account: a black hole called housing. House prices will eventually be Spain's undoing.

Like Ireland in 2008, Spain now has the daunting task of stabilising house prices in a market with 1-2 million vacant homes, double-digit unemployment, and slow growth. Like Ireland, Spain is doing everything possible to prop up its banking sector to prevent a housing crisis. And like Ireland, Spain will eventually stumble and fail. As I have already written in this blog, politicians are not particularly adept at delivering bad news. Only the non-elected governor of the Bank of Spain has delivered something less than a fairy-tale view of Spain's housing and financial crisis. While the BOS puts the pricetag for recapitalising Spain's banks at 20 billion euros, in a stressed situation (like after a housing bust) that figure could baloon to over 100 billion euros. As we learned in Ireland, governments tend to lowball so I'd bank on the higher figure.

Portugal confirmed how fickle financial markets can be regarding government debt. One day Spain's neighbour was "on the road to recovery" and then it suddenly needed a bailout. Spain is also trying to simultaneously cut its deficit, restore growth, reduce unemployment, bolster house prices, combine and recapitalise its banks, and raise fresh private-sector capital for these newly combined banks. Each of these steps individually would take years to properly implement and yet Spain is supposed to execute all of them perfectly under the shark-like eyes of international bond traders. There is zero margin for error.

What does all of this mean for our 2011 Tour de France clients? Unless there is another breakdown in federal budget talks, which is highly likely, Spain should have another 8-10 weeks reprieve before the bond sharks smell blood in the water...again. The next countries in line to fall: Italy; Belgium; and France - but hopefully not before the Tour de France.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in 2011 Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. We specialize in providing clients with Tour de France bike and non-biking packages with Paris grandstand seats and VIP access. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please go to http://www.tdf-tours.com/ or http://www.spyns.com/. You can also call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.