Former world champion Cadel Evans has decided to miss races such as the Tour Down Under and Giro d’Italia in order to ensure that he has the best possible chance of success in the 2011 Tour de France.
The Australian rider has twice finished second overall in the race, but has had disappointing performances in the past two seasons. He was sick in 2009, while this year he crashed heavily on stage eight and had to ride the remainder of the race with a fractured elbow.
Due to the current uncertainty over the future of Alberto Contador, Evans knows that next year’s Tour could be a lot more open than in 2009 and 2010. He’ll be 34 then and is aware that time is running out. Because of that, he is going to make a serious push for the yellow jersey, banking everything on getting back to his best form in July.
"My main focus for the year ahead will be the Tour de France. My whole season will be geared to that," he said yesterday, according to the Australian newspaper. “In the past I've gotten to the Tour tired. I'll spend January and February training and not start racing until the Tirreno-Adriatico in March.”
Evans was in Sydney to promote a fundraising ride for the Amy Gillett Foundation. He’s had a chance to weigh things up and, following the modified start to his season, will make other changes to his programme too.
"I'm also not going to the Giro d'Italia, so I can focus on being at my best for the Tour de France in July,” he continued. “The Giro next year on paper looks really tough. It's just too difficult on my body to come out of the Giro and back up well for the Tour.”
Prior to 2009, he was making steady progress in the Tour, and everything pointed towards a real tilt at the yellow jersey. His debut came in 2005, when he finished eighth overall in his debut Tour. He improved to fourth the following year, then took those two runner-up slots.
In both cases the destination of the final yellow jersey was determined by the final time trial. Evans wasn’t able to gain sufficient ground on Alberto Contador in 2007, and fell short in a similar fashion twelve months later. Many expected him to be able to beat Carlos Sastre by a sufficient amount, but he appeared to choke under pressure and earned another runner-up slot.
Two tough Tours later, he believes that he can still add the final yellow jersey to his palmares. “Obviously I'd like to do better than my previous best. That remains a big objective of mine," he stated.