Unsuccessful in his Tour defence and finishing back in seventh place after becoming ill during the race, Cadel Evans is yet to decide if he will definitely take place in the Olympic Games.
The fatigued Australain has told national selector Matt White that he would likely make a decision today after travelling to London.
"He's tired, like everyone is - he's obviously still suffering a little bit from the illness he had on the rest day, but he's quite confident he'll be ready for the Olympics," White told News.com.au, before admitting there was a chance he could miss the Games. “He told me as well that if he's not ready by Tuesday, he'll pull himself out . . . but he's quite confident. We'll see how he recovers those first two days.”
White spoke to Evans prior to yesterday’s final stage of the Tour and clearly hopes that the 35 year old will recover in time.
Evans will base his decision on how he feels that he will perform, either as an individual or as part of the Australian squad.
White is clear on what the team wants to achieve. He said that it was determined to medal in the road race for the first time since 1972.
Evans said he had his fingers crossed. “Hopefully I recover well and come up for the Olympics,” he stated. “It's only a few days away, but after a three-week block of racing, a few days of recovery can hopefully do wonders - we'll see.”
He was fifteenth in the road race in Beijing in 2008 plus fifth in the time trial.
In June Cycling Australia announced that the five man squad would be made up of Evans, Matt Goss, Stuart O’Grady and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge), along with Michael Rogers (Sky Procycling). Two of those would go on to do the time trial.
If Evans does opt out, White can call on Heinrich Haussler, Mathew Hayman, Mark Renshaw or Luke Durbridge.
Some have suggested that first year professional Durbridge could be a potential medallist in the race against he clock. The 2011 world under 23 TT champion won the prologue in the Critérium du Dauphiné, as well as the time trial plus the overall in the Circuit de la Sarthe and the national TT championship.