Last year, Australian Ritchie Porte finished seventh in his first Grand Tour, the Giro d’Italia, after he lead the race for three days. He also went on to win the best young rider jersey. Porte was quick to thank fellow Australian Cadel Evans after his achievements, as the more experienced Aussie gave Porte advice about the climbs of the Giro last year.
Evans is willing to do the same this summer when the Tasmanian makes his debut in the Tour de France. That’s on one condition: “not if Contador is his teammate. If he is there on his own, yes,” said Evans, while speaking to the Sun-Herald. Contador and Porte both ride on the SaxoBank-Sungard team. They are currently taking part in this year’s Corsa Rosa where Porte is riding in support of Contador, who is currently leading the race with clear dominance.
''Riding alongside Contador will be a great experience for him because he doesn't have a lot of Grand Tour experience,'' Evans said. ''With one more Grand Tour in his legs [he will] double the experience for the Tour. In some ways it might be a good thing for him.''
However, Contador tested positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol on his way to victory in last years Tour de France. He has successfully defended himself up to this point, claiming the substance came from contaminated meat he ate during the race. The case has been taken to the Court of Arbitration, the highest court in sport. CAS promised to have the case resolved before the French race departs on the 2nd July.
Evans has built his season around the race in which he has already finished second twice. Should Contador be allowed to start the event, he will be one of the Australian’s fiercest rivals.
The BMC Racing team captain has however displayed concern over Porte’s build up to the Tour.
''If he has to dig really deep to defend the lead for Contador, it might be difficult for him to recover for the Tour,'' Evans said. ''I don't know how his situation was in terms of how good physically he was prepared to take on a Giro - they announced it publicly quite late - so who knows if he had some idea if he was doing it or not.''
Last year, Evans proclaimed the 26 year old as being the future of Australian cycling. It’s hard to disagree with him after seeing Porte’s incredible time-trial ability. In addition to that, when on form he can also more than hold his own in the mountains.
The SaxoBank-Sungard rider will unfortunately have to wait till a few days before the Tour before he finds out if he will be going there as a domestique, or as a team leader.