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Cadel Evans is on the brink of ending his unparalleled cycling career, but he is not expected to be lost to the sport.
Speculation has been rife for the last week about an imminent announcement from the only Australian to win the Tour de France.
At 37, the Australian cycling legend is clearly in the closing stages of his time as a top-level competitor.
He will be a key member of the Australian team for this month’s world road championships in Spain.
It is understood he will also ride the Tour of Lombardy, a one-day classic that traditionally ends the international season.
But beyond that, no-one outside Evans’ inner circle is sure what he has planned – if indeed he has made that decision.
Outgoing Cycling Australia president Gerry Ryan, who also owns the Australian-based Orica-GreenEDGE team, is confident Evans will maintain a close association with the sport.
“We’ve spoken to Cadel – one thing, when he does retire, he wants to stay involved,” Ryan said.
“We’ll wait and see.”
The most likely scenario is that Evans will compete at next January’s Tour Down Under in Adelaide.
That will give him a solid preparation for the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road one-day race in Victoria, to be held on February 1.
The BMC team star could well decide to make that event his swansong.
New CA president Malcolm Speed acknowledges that Evans’ retirement will have an impact on the sport.
But Ryan pointed out Australian cycling has an unprecedented number of world-class riders.
Ryan noted Orica-GreenEDGE team leader Simon Gerrans will be one of the favourites for the world road titles later this month in Spain.
Evans, who won the Tour de France in 2011, also won the 2009 world road race title among his many successes.
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