Evans turned to full-time road cycling in 2001, and gradually progressed through the ranks. He finished second in the 2007 and 2008 Tours de France. He became the first Australian to win the UCI ProTour (2007) and the UCI Road World Championships in 2009. Finally, he won the Tour de France in 2011, riding for BMC Racing Team, after two Tours riddled with bad luck.At 34, he was among the five oldest winners in the race's history.
Career
Mountain biking
Evans started his international career as a member of the Australian Institute of Sport mountain bike (MTB) team, under head coach, Heiko Salzwedel and MTB coach Damien Grundy, both renowned in their field. He won silver medals at the 1997 and 1999 under-23 world championships and bronze medals at the 1995 junior world road time trial championship and junior world mountain bike championship.
In 1997, he rode for the Diamondback MTB team,and then for the Volvo-Cannondale MTB team.
In 1997, he rode for the Diamondback MTB team,and then for the Volvo-Cannondale MTB team.
Switch to road cycling
In the summer of 2000 after consultation with Michele Ferrari under the management of Tony Rominger, Evans switched to road cycling fulltime.
He has ridden for Saeco (2001), Mapei (2002) and Team Telekom (2003–2004). In Mapei, he was coached by Aldo Sassi, who helped him make the transition from mountain biker to grand tourer. After Sassi's death from cancer in 2010, Evans continued cooperation with his protege Andrea Morelli. After winning the Tour in 2011, Evans dedicated the victory to the late coach. From the 2005 season he joined Davitamon-Lotto and came eighth in his first Tour de France, the first Australian in the top ten since Phil Anderson.
Cadel Evans rides in Bonn, Germany 2005
Other early successes included overall wins in the 2001 and 2004 editions of the Tour of Austria, 14th in the 2002 Giro d'Italia (he wore the leader's jersey, Maglia Rosa for one day), Commonwealth Games time trial champion in 2002, a stage win of the 2002 Tour Down Under, fifth in the 2005 Deutschland Tour, and winning the mountains classification in the 2006 Tour Down Under.
Career highlights
- 1993
- 1st
U-17 XC Australian MTB Champion - 1994
- 1st U-19 XC Australian MTB Champion
- 2nd
U-19 XC Mountain Bike World Championships - 1995
- 3rd
U-19 XC Mountain Bike World Championships - 3rd Individual Time Trial Juniors World Championship
- 1996
- 1st XC Australian MTB Champion
- 3rd U-23 XC Mountain Bike World Championships
- 9th Atlanta Olympics Mountain Bike Race
- 1997
- 1st XC Australian MTB Champion
- 2nd U-23 XC Mountain Bike World Championships
- 1998
- 1st Overall Mountain Bike World Cup
- 1999
- 1st
Overall Tour of Tasmania
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st
Young rider's competition Tour Down Under - 1st Overall Mountain Bike World Cup
- 2nd U-23 XC Mountain Bike World Championchips
- 2000
- 7th Sydney Olympics Mountain Bike Cross Country
- 2001
- 1st Overall Tour of Austria
- 2nd Team Relay Mountain Bike World Championships
- 2002
- 1st
Individual Time Trial Commonwealth Games - 1st Stage 5 Tour Down Under
- 1st King Mountains Competition
- 1st
- 1st Stage 1 Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale
- 1st Stage 4 International UNIQA Classic
- 2nd Road Race Commonwealth Games
- 3rd Overall Tour de Romandie
- 14th Overall Giro d'Italia
- Held
Maglia Rosa for Stage 16–17
- Held
- 2003
- 1st King Mountains Competition Tour Down Under
- 2004
- 1st Overall Tour of Austria
- 1st Stage 2
- 2005
- 1st Stage 7 Deutschland Tour
- 8th Overall Tour de France
- 4th Stage 16
- 2006
- 1st Overall Tour de Romandie
- 1st Stage 5
- 1st King Mountains Competition Tour Down Under
- 4th Overall Tour de France
- 7th Overall Tour of California
- 2007
- Champion UCI ProTour
- 1st Stage 2 ITT Test Event Beijing 2008
- 1st Stage 1 Part B TTT Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale Coppi-Bartali
- 2nd Overall Tour de France
- 1st Stage 13
- 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 4th Overall Vuelta a España
- 4th Overall Tour de Romandie
- 6th Giro di Lombardia
- 2008
- 1st Overall, Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st Stage 4 Paris–Nice
- 2nd Overall Tour de France
- Held Maillot Jaune From Stages 10–14
- Held Maillot Jaune
- 2nd La Flèche Wallonne
- 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
- 1st Stage 2
- 7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 2009
- 1st
Road Race World Champion - 2nd Overall Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
- 1st Stage 5
- 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st
Points classification
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a España
- Held
Jersey Oro for Stage 8 - Held Maillot Combinada from Stages 8–11
- Held
- 4th Overall Vuelta al País Vasco
- 5th La Flèche Wallonne
- 2010
- 1st La Flèche Wallonne
- 3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
- 5th Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stage 7
- 1st
Points Classification - 1st
Azzurri d'Italia Classification - Held Maglia Rosa for Stage 2
- 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 6th Overall Tour Down Under
- Most Aggressive rider Stage 5
- Tour de France
- Held Maillot Jaune for Stage 9
- Held Maillot Jaune
- 2011
- 1st Overall Tour de France
- 1st Stage 4
- Held
for stages 4–5
- 1st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
- 1st Stage 6
- 1st Overall Tour de Romandie
- 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
- 7th Overall USA Pro Cycling Challenge
- 8th Overall Volta a Catalunya
- 2012
- 1st Overall Critérium International
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 2 (ITT)
- 1st
- 3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st
Grand Tour General Classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro |
14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | - |
| Tour |
- | - | - | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 26 | 1 |
| Vuelta |
- | - | 60 | - | - | 4 | - | 3 | - | - |
