Defending Tour de France champion Cadel Evans had a solid showing in yesterday’s opening prologue of the Critérium du Dauphiné, clocking a time of six minutes 45 seconds over the 5.7 kilometres. It earned him ninth place, putting him ahead of many of those who will fight for the overall, but he wasn’t particularly satisfied with the result.
"It's not a good time for me. It’s been a long time since I raced, and I wanted to test myself over five kilometres,” he told ledauphine.com. “It would be surprised if I was good, but I hope to better during the week. We will already be able to see in the next three days.”
However the team’s directeur sportif John Lelangue was more satisfied with the performance. "Cadel made a very good comeback to competition,” he said. “He only lost time on the specialists and he is very well ranked among the favorites, He will have to stay safe during the coming stages and after this prologue, we have nice perspectives for the overall."
Evans has had a mixed season thus far, being behind his 2011 form in Tirreno Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie, but winning Critérium International. That naturally created some uncertainty in his mind, and consequently a good showing on one or more stages would help put his thoughts at rest.
"I came here with the desire to know where I am, what I have to work at for the Tour. I’d like to ride well but I do not have high expectations for the final result,” he said, his statement contrasting with that of Lelangue, who appears to think more is possible. “I'm just looking to race again in France, to find many guys [team-mates] who want to shine on the Tour. We also need to work together in view of the month of July.
“Most of the stages will enable me to improve myself for the Tour, I am focussed on that. But of course, I hope to have some good results here. In any case, with a long time trial and hard stages, this is a good opportunity to test myself. "
The race continues today with a with a lumpy 187km race from Seyssins to Saint-Vallier. Evans is a four-time runner-up in the race, netting second in 2007, 2008, 2009 and again last year.