Rested and ready, Cadel Evans said he looks forward to his return to France for the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The BMC Racing Team rider has four past runner-up finishes at the race to his credit (2011, 2009, 2008 and 2007) while teammate Tejay van Garderen was third here in 2010.
The eight-day race begins Sunday with a 5.7-kilometer prologue, features a 53.5 km individual time trial on Stage 4, and several mountainous stages, including a mountain-top finish on the final day. “This will be my final test before the Tour de France and it’s not only a good chance to gauge my training but also another chance to race with some of the guys who will be helping me at the Tour de France,” Evans said. “Though I haven’t raced since the Tour de Romandie, I’ve been able to get a good bit of training in on much of the parcours that is similar to what I’ll face in both the Dauphine and the Tour.”
BMC Directeur Sportif John Lelangue said the race plays to the strengths of both Evans (winner of Critérium International in March) and van Garderen, recent fourth-place finisher at the Amgen Tour of California. “We know we have two guys to protect and who can both perform well in the time trial,” Lelangue said. “After that, there are still three critical days of mountain stages with options to play offensive or defensively, depending on where we are after the time trial.”
