Evans stays focused on Tour de France

After a week of ups and downs, Cadel Evans remains focused on his Tour de France bid. The Silence-Lotto rider finished an impressive second behind Kim Kirchen Team High Road) last Wednesday at the 72nd La Flèche Wallonne. On Sunday at the 94th Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Evans was part of a four man chase group including Christian Pfannberger (Barloworld), Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Joaquím Rodríguez (Caisse d'Epargne). The chase effort did not succeed though he still finished just 40 seconds off the winner.

"I didn't have the legs for the distance today," said Evans to the AFP after the 261km Liège-Bastogne-Liège, in which he eventually finished seventh. Caisse d'Epargne's Alejandro Valverde won the event. "The team did everything I asked of them and raced really aggressively... 261 km is a little bit different from the 200 km I did on Wednesday."

The Australian told the AFP that he was happy with his current form and he put his week of racing in perspective. "I hoped for more today [Sunday], but I'm just a part-time Classics rider so I can't be too disappointed. I was more surprised to be [so] good at Flèche Wallonne than I was to be bad today." He knows the real test of his form will come in July in France where all eyes will be watching to see if he can step up to the highest spot on the podium after his second-placed finish in 2007.