Cavendish Starts Season Downunder

British cycling ace Mark Cavendish will start his season at next month’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road race. Event organisers have confirmed the 30-year-old sprinter will compete at the 31 January event, when he will make his debut with Team Dimension Data.

Cavendish is the third-most prolific Tour de France stage winner with 26 and he won the 2011 world road race championship. His last Australian race was the 2011 Tour Down Under.

He is the first big overseas rider to confirm he will start at next year’s Cadel Evans race and he joins Australian pair Simon Gerrans and Rohan Dennis as the headline names in the field.

He is also the second big overseas cycling name to announce he will race this summer in Australia, but not at the Tour Down Under. The Adelaide event is Australia’s only top-level WorldTour race.

Last month, two-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome announced he will compete at the February Herald Sun Tour in Victoria.

The confirmations of Froome and Cavendish are a massive boost for the profile of the Victorian events. It also continues a trend where big names accept lucrative contracts to race early in the season at non-WorldTour events.

World champion Peter Sagan, last year’s Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali and this year’s Tour runner-up Nairo Quintana will all compete next month at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.

“We wanted cycling’s biggest names in Victoria and that’s exactly what we’ve got,” Victorian tourism minister John Eren said. “The top names belong in the state that does the big events best.

“We want the big sporting events in Victoria, because they mean jobs for locals and a stronger economy.”

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Evans Admits Ferrari Meeting

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Cadel Evans has admitted meeting with Michele Ferrari, but denies discussing doping with the disgraced sports doctor.

Ferrari is a key figure in the Lance Armstrong drug scandal and was handed a life ban in cycling after the publication of a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) dossier.

The report accused Armstrong of running "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen" and alleged it was organised by Ferrari, a consultant to the US Postal Service team.

Evans, who has been hailed as a big anti-doping advocate by Armstrong's former team-mate and confessed doper Tyler Hamilton, has also been linked with Ferrari as he had a consultation in summer 2000, but the Australian says they never discussed doping.

"I have never seen or had contact before or after this test," the 35-year-old told Australian TV channel SBS by email.

"I was recommended to take a test by my manager Tony Rominger to understand if I had the capabilities to race on the road. I took the test as Mr Ferrari described on his website. Mr Ferrari briefly explained the results to me and the meeting was over.

"My only motive at the time...was to understand my capabilities as a road rider.

"At that time, Mr Ferrari's opinion was very highly regarded by teams and team managers, and therefore helpful for me to gain opportunities with road teams.

"There was never any discussion of doping (with Dr Ferrari) or any sign of anything illegal."

Related articles

• Evans admits meeting Ferrari but insists no doping was discussed
• Evans says he only spoke to Ferrari once
• Evans denies Ferrari doping link
• Evans denies Ferrari doping link
• UCI to strip Armstrong of his 7 Tour titles
• Evans admits to meeting Armstrong doc

Exhausted Evans Out of Time

Bradley Wiggins' chances of winning a fourth Olympic gold medal were handed a boost on Sunday, when former Tour de France champion Cadel Evans pulled out of Wednesday's time trial.

Evans has been withdrawn from the Games time trial due to fatigue, the Australian Olympic Committee announced.

The 2011 Tour de France champion finished 80th in the 250-kilometre Olympic road race on day one, but after a gruelling season will now not take to the start line for the 44km race against the clock.

A statement read: 'Cadel Evans will not compete in the men's individual time-trial event.

'He has been seen by the cycling doctor Dr Mark Fisher and Olympic team medical director, Dr Peter Baquie, and they have confirmed he is fatigued and will not recover in time for Wednesday.

'Cycling has advised he will not be replaced with another athlete in that event.

'Michael Rogers will be the only Australian athlete to compete in the men's individual time-trial.'

Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, the defending champion, crashed during the road race and rated his chances at 50-50 for the event, which Tour winner Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain will begin as favourite

Schleck Out of Le Tour Loses

Cadel Evans has been given a major boost to his Tour de France hopes after Andy Schleck pulled out of this year's event due to injuries suffered in last week's Criterium du Dauphine race, according to his family.

Schleck was among the favourites for the 98th edition, which will begin in Liege, Belgium on June 30 and end in Paris on July 22, but will take no part after being diagnosed with a pelvis fracture in recent days.

The RadioShack climbing specialist, who has finished runner-up three times on the world's premier cycling event, had recently been crowned the 2010 champion following the disqualification of Spain's Alberto Contador for doping offences.

Schleck's joy at finally securing the yellow jersey was, however, tempered by the injuries he suffered in a crash last Thursday at the Criterium, an eight-day race which is a major tune-up for the Tour.

During a 53km time trial a strong gust of wind literally picked Schleck and his bike up off the ground and dumped him at the side of the road.

Schleck continued, but complained of leg and back pain and despite beginning Saturday's sixth and penultimate stage he pulled out after 63km.

"He couldn't pedal anymore," RadioShack sporting director Alain Gallopin told the race's official website.

"Since he crashed during the time trial, the whole right side of his body was hurting."

Schleck returned to Luxembourg on Saturday and underwent scans at the beginning of the week which revealed the extent of his injuries.

It will be the first time the 27-year-old Schleck misses the race since he made his debut in 2008 with CSC. However it will be seen by many as the nadir to a season which has been one of his worst to date.

Schleck, 27, abandoned a number of top stage races, such as Paris-Nice, the Tour of Catalunya and the Dauphine, that would have been key to building his form for the Tour, and he has complained of ill health.

At the end of May he cut short a training camp on some key stages of the Tour de France to have treatment for three days at a clinic in Basel, Switzerland on a troublesome knee.

Schleck had planned to continue his training camp in the Pyrenees mountains as of Thursday, until hospital scans at the beginning of the week ended all hopes of competing in this year's race.

Schleck's older brother Frank, who finished third overall on last year's Tour, is currently racing the Tour of Switzerland and is likely to spearhead RadioShack's yellow jersey bid this summer.

The overall favourite, however, is Bradley Wiggins.

He will aim to succeed Australia's Evans and thus become the first Briton to win the prestigious yellow jersey.