Injured Australian cycling star Cadel Evans has pulled out of the time trial event at the Beijing Olympics, Cycling Australia said on Wednesday.
The national federation added Evans slipped on a wet floor on Sunday night, in the aftermath of the Tour de France final stage, but the following day dismissed rumours problems to his right knee would put in jeopardy his Olympic participation.
However following his flight home to Switzerland, the knee swelled up and Evans decided to get medical advice. “I slipped on a wet floor on Sunday night and my team (Silence Lotto) doctor immediately had a look at it and said not to worry,” said Evans who had been at the official post Tour team dinner.
“I immediately headed back to the hotel and to bed and on Monday morning I felt a bit sore but didn’t feel I’d done any damage. “But on the flight home my knee began to swell up so I had to consider going to see a specialist who recommended cancelling my ride in the criterium in Belgium in favour of getting some scans done,” said Evans. “It’s not a major injury but it’s something I will have to manage carefully.
“I recognised I might not be at my absolute best in the race against the clock but I can still make a significant contribution to the team effort for the road race,” he said. “I’ll be training and getting treatment over the next few days to confirm my participation by Monday.
“But I will not take a place in Beijing if everything doesn’t go according to plan,” said Evans who would not elaborate on the details of the injury. “I don’t want to go into the details, I just want to focus on overcoming it so I can race in China.”
The 31-year-old Evans crashed during the ninth stage of the Tour de France but rallied to complete the event and finish in second place overall.