Having carefully delayed his season start to ensure he was in the best possible shape for the Tour de France, Cadel Evans has said that he plans to start his racing even later again in 2012 in order to aim for a special triple.
The Australian rider wants to be at peak form for his Tour de France defence, but also intends carrying over that form into the Olympic Games, his second big target. He’ll then aim to be in top condition again for the world road race championships in Limburg, the Netherlands, where he will aim for a rainbow jersey two years after winning it in Mendrisio.
Because of this, the rider has confirmed that he will miss the Santos Tour Down Under for the second year running.
“There is not much I can do about this,” he told The Advertiser. “I have a lot of expectations coming later in the season so anything that compromises my performance there, is not something I can consider. Don't get me wrong, I would love to test myself on the harder stage finishes in next year's Tour Down Under but I do have a lot of other `tests' to pass in 2012.”
Evans had a very successful year in 2011, winning Tirreno-Adriatico early on, taking the Tour de Romandie in May, finishing second in the Critèrium du Dauphiné in June and winning the Tour de France plus one stage in July.
Despite a hectic schedule after the latter triumph, he showed solid form in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, netting seventh overall.
He said that he’d be pleased to have as successful a season next year, although his goals would be different then. With key events coming after the Tour, he wants to hold back early on and then ramp up his training, his racing and his condition.
“We are still in a comprehensive planning phase right now, but looking at the calendar I am guessing I will be having a quieter start to 2012 than this year,” he said, explaining the reasons for missing out on the Santos Tour Down Under.
However, being in Australia during the winter months, he has floated the possibility that he could attend the race without actually taking part. If so, he would hope that this would go some way towards appeasing fans who had hoped to seem him race.
He added that he expected his season plans to be finalised by October 17th, two weeks from now.