Some late-breaking pro cycling news this weekend concerning our current World Champion Cadel Evans. Normally late-breaking news about a pro cyclist would involve a positive doping violation but not this time...
Cadel Evans surprised a lot of people in the cycling world on Saturday by exercising an out in his contract with Silence-Lotto and deciding to leave the team with whom he has twice finished second and once third in the Tour de France in the past 4 seasons. There had been speculation that Evans was dissatisfied with his team over they years for not surrounding him with strong enough helpers to help his ascent of the TDF podium. Evans had been with Silence-Lotto since 2005, and finally broke thru with the biggest win of his career when he solo'ed away to win the World Championship Road Race in September.
Of course, with a GC rider of Evans stature on the free agent market, the rumor mills were very busy yesterday. Would Evans go to Team Sky to be their leader in 2010? Would he join Vinokourov on Astana? Perhaps Garmin would grab another GC contender? However, the discussion were short-lived when it was announced on Sunday that Evans would be joining BMC Racing Team for 2010 and beyond. This gives BMC - who are making the jump from a continental team to a pro-continental team, a giant extra reason for race directors to invite them to prestigious races in 2010, including Grand Tours like the Tour de France. Evans joins 2008 World Champion Alessandro Ballan and American George Hincapie on BMC in 2010, which has gone from a "Who?" team to a solid race contender with the addition of those 3 racers, plus a couple of other veteran riders.
So in 2010, we will perhaps have 3 more brand new teams in the Tour. We have the Lance-lead Team RadioShack, the mostly British Team Sky, and now Team BMC. It is already shaping up to be a very good 2010.
Of course, Evans' defection does mean that Silence-Lotto will lost out on the chance of having the rainbow jersey on one of their riders in 2010. But perhaps the extra money this frees up could help them attract a certain Spanish rider who still might need a new team in 2010...as always, stay tuned...
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