Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and his wife Chiara Passerini are to adopt a twelve-month-old Ethiopian baby boy, according to SBS. The Australian – who became the first rider from the southern hemisphere to win la Grande Boucle this year – and his Italian wife have been dropping hints via Twitter recently, but have now confirmed that they will be hoping to take the baby to their home in Switzerland soon.
“So many questions! Not Nepal but the old Black continent... and... love is the answer! Have a great festive season everyone!!!” Passerini tweeted yesterday.
Following the end of the road season – in which Evans has not raced since the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorada, USA – the couple made their usual return to Australia. While there, the Tour winner has been showered with accolades, winning the “Don” Award – named after cricket legend Sir Don Bradman – from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, the “Oppy” medal – named after Sir Hubert Opperman – from Cycling Australia, and even being presented with a yellow Cadillac Coupe.
Rather than stay south for Christmas though, they left for Europe again on December 16th; the reason for which has now been explained.
"Going to Ethiopia was our reason for the early departure from Australia," Ms Passerini told Farifax Media. "We came here to bring home our little 12-month-old boy after months of paperwork.
"We always felt the strong wish to adopt,” she added, “so we decided to start our family through adoption."
Not having made an entry since Christmas Eve, this morning Evans made the following announcement on his Twitter page:
“Being quieter on Twitter...busy baby sitting! ;o)”