Far from being dissuaded by his below-par 30th place in this year’s event, Cadel Evans has restated his desire to finally top the podium of the Tour de France.
The double runner-up has taken additional motivation from his recent victory in the world road race championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland, and wants to become the first rider since Greg LeMond in 1990 to do the Tour-Worlds double.
“I am tired of being known as the bloke who finishes second in the Tour de France,” Evans told AFP. “I had a lot of bad luck this year but I am already looking ahead to next year and am more determined than ever to win it, I won’t be satisfied until I have.”
Evans was twice second in the race, finishing as runner-up to Alberto Contador in 2007 and Carlos Sastre in 2008. On both occasions he was expected to take the final yellow jersey in the time trial but didn’t perform at his top level, folding under the pressure of expectation. Taking his first major one day victory when he won the world championship road race shows that he has shaken off any doubts about his ability to land major success.
“It was a great moment for me and the fact I get to wear the rainbow jersey for the rest of the year is a fantastic honour,” said Evans. “It is unlike the yellow jersey in the Tour de France as you never know how long you get to wear that, and it will mean a great deal to me to wear it in Geelong (Australia) for next year’s world championship.”
Evans recently finished as runner-up in the Vuelta a España, losing out on the chance to win the race when he suffered a puncture at a crucial point on the stage to Sierra Nevada. He was clearly strongest of the Vuelta rider at the Worlds and he is now at home in Australia taking a break after a long season. He is yet to decide whether or not he will ride the ProTour Tour Down Under there in January.
While Tour de France contender Lance Armstrong has said that he will take part, Evans has raced much more than Armstrong this year and so needs to recharge his batteries completely before getting back to racing.
“There are still some things we need to work on,” he said. “The race is very early in the year and the Tour de France is in July so I have to consider that. That will be the focus of my attentions for 2010 along with the world championships at the back end of the year. We will just have to wait and see.”
Evans has just launched his autobiography, ‘Close to Flying.’