Evans stays upbeat as Tour de France nears

Cadel Evans remains confident about his Tour de France title defence despite setbacks and distractions.

Evans will gain a much clearer idea of how his campaign is progressing from this Sunday when he competes in the Criterium du Dauphine, an eight-day race in France.

The Dauphine is a major signpost for Tour title contenders before the three-week classic starts on June 30 in Liege, Belgium.

Evans has had plenty on his plate since last July, when he became the first Australian to win the Tour.

As well as the much greater attention that comes with being Tour champion, Evans became a father in December when he and his wife Chiara adopted a baby boy, Robel.

Evans won the Criterium International in March, but had to pull out midway through the Ardennes one-day classics the following month with a sinus infection.

He has not raced since the Tour of Romandie in late April, where he was defending champion.

Evans was clearly well off his best form at Romandie this time and finished 29th overall.

“Of course, the off-season was extremely busy, handling obligations that go along with being the Tour winner,” Evans said.

“And then I had a sinus infection that slowed me and eventually kept me from doing some of the classics.

“In between, I had a good race at Criterium International, winning the time trial and the race, so that was a good thing.

“The most important thing for me now is to keep preparing and working with the team so we are at our best when we take the start.”

British rider Brad Wiggins, considered Evans’ biggest Tour de France rival, won Romandie.

Wiggins will also be on the start line in Grenoble on Sunday for the Criterium du Dauphine prologue time trial.

While Wiggins has so far enjoyed a much smoother Tour build-up than Evans, it is too early to judge the Australian’s form.

Last year, Evans won the Tirreno Adriatico stage race as well as the Tour of Romandie before the Tour de France, but his entire campaign then was based around peaking in July.

This time, he said he has slightly held back because after the Tour, there are the Olympics and also potentially the September world road titles.

The big thing for Evans is ensuring the rock-solid team spirit at BMC that underpinned his Tour win is there again.

“I think it built a lot of unity and confidence and morale (last year) – what I did at Tirreno-Adriatico, Romandie, etcetera,” he said.

“That helped going into the Tour. So although I didn’t quite perform to my expectations this season, I feel we have that same unity now.”