The Australian 2011 Tour de France winner sat at the front near Bradley Wiggins and teammate Philippe Gilbert but did not flinch as the highlights video of this year's showed him cracking in the mountains and losing any chance of victory. He eventually finished seventh overall, 15:49 behind winner Bradley Wiggins.
Evans watched the route presentation carefully and seemed happy to see a tough but balanced route that will end with a mountain top finish to Annecy-Semnoz just 24 hours before the last stage in Paris.
After posing for photographs on stage, the BMC Racing Team leader picked out the double ascent of L'Alpe d'Huez as the stage he would study carefully before race day.
"The finish to l'Alpe d'Huez is going to be interesting," he told the media scrum behind the stage.
"I've never ridden up the backside (of the Col de Sarenne), so I might have to go and look at that in training. It's really something to ride in the front group of the Tour de France on the l'Alpe d'Huez and to go up there twice means it's going to be a very special day."
The BMC Racing Team told Cyclingnews that ASO wants riders to avoid talking about doping at the presentation but Evans faced some tough questions on the subject just like every rider at the presentation. Evans was asked about the huge media coverage of the Armstrong case, especially in Australia. Like many of his fellow riders, he insisted that the problem was part of cycling's past, not its present.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"I don't know if there's anything else going on in Australia for the newspapers to talk about so they're focused on that," he said.
"Look, these things happened years and years ago."
"The things that have been talked about in the last few weeks happened between seven and 13 years ago. A lot's changed since then. From someone who rides in the front group, I can see and feel that there's been a lot of change."
Asked what exactly, he said, "I think it's been the mentality of the riders and the teams that has really caused the changes. That's what needed changing from years before."
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
