UPDATED: From the Archives - 2009 World Champion - Pure Class

We here at Pappillon have always held Cadel Evans in the highest regard, and were absolutely delighted with the punchy Australian's win at the World Championships in 2009 - not least of all because of how classy he would look in his new WC strip at races like Lombardia and Coppa Sabatini. In fact, had it been sold to the general public, we easily would have ponied-up the full retail price to own a pair of bibs and jersey - it was that good.



Unfortunately, for 2010 Evans' WC duds seem to miss the mark with BMC. Not sure what it is - perhaps too much black? Maybe BMC the bike company should have stuck to an all-white fork for Cadel's ride, and gone more for the subdued Canyon look? Either way, his 2010 uniform just can't compare to the man's utterly perfect 2009 end-of-season look:

Evans pictured today at 2010 Amstel Gold Race (notice the over-abundance of black, spoiling what could have been a brilliant World Champion's strip):

We're not so shallow as to flick Evans just because his Hincapie Sportswear-provided outfit is too heavy on the black, even if we wouldn't buy it for use on our own training rides (as we did with Bettini's Quick Step kit!). In fact, we'll be passionately supporting Evans throughout his 2010 campaign, and are in the middle of round one of the novenas that we hope will give Cadel special grace on the climbs of the Giro next month. In the meantime, watch this space for our first product review of 2010, as we put aside our design prejudices and test whatever Hincapie Sportswear clothing we can convince Rich (George's brother) to send our way! Until then, follow Cadel Evans here!

UPDATE: Thanks to DoctorPhillips, you can now watch this video excerpt of an interview with George Hincapie, in which he explains the origin of Cadel's more traditional World Champion's kit:


Hincapie on Hincapie from CycleTo on Vimeo.