Australian fully committed after tough Tour
Following some uncertainty about whether a fatigued Cadel Evans will compete in the Olympic road race, the Australian has said that he is in no doubts about taking part in the event this Saturday.
The BMC Racing Team rider was below-par in the Tour de France due to a stomach problem. National selector Matt White previously told News.com.au that there was a chance that Evans wouldn’t take part, although he hoped he’d be up for competing.
“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,” he said recently. “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.”
Evans is however clear that he’ll be riding. “Absolutely, I wouldn’t bother getting on the plane if I wasn’t,” he told AAP. “The Tour has been tiring for us and my Tour wasn’t up to my expectations, or anyone’s expectations, but for us eight days is a lot of recovery.
“And (there’s) a bit of training to do before we get to the time trial.”
Evans is due to line out in the road race with Australia team-mates Michael Rogers, Simon Gerrans, Matt Goss and Stuart O’Grady, while he and Rogers will also do the time trial on August 1st.
Evans was fifteenth in the road race in Beijing four years ago, plus fifth in the time trial.
At 35 years of age, he is likely taking part in his last Olympic Games. That fact plus his desire to bounce back after finishing seventh in the Tour means that he will be motivated to perform as well as possible in London.
Describing the British riders such as Wiggins and Froome as being ‘very impressive’ in the Tour, he said that time would tell if they would hold form for the Olympics.
“Let’s see if they can back up and continue at that level, or if some guys like us who were held up on the Tour can come on better,” he said.