Evans still working on pre-Tour programme

A day after Cadel Evans said he did not plan to race the 2009 edition of the Giro d'Italia, his Silence-Lotto director sportif Marc Sergeant said that Evans' focus is on the Tour de France and that his rider had not yet decided his programme for the rapidly approaching new season.

"For Cadel and me, it's all about the Tour. That's the biggest goal for us both," said Sergeant to Cyclingnews. "All we need to do is decide how best to arrive at that race with him in the best form possible."

After Giro d'Italia race organizers RCS Sport said the Australian Evans would be riding the Italian Grand Tour come May, Evans accused them of falsely using his name to promote its event and denied any intentions to participate along with confirmed contenders Lance Armstrong, Carlos Sastre, Ivan Basso, and others.

"No Giro for me," Evans told Cyclingnews after reports of his potentially pink ambitions. "It's possible there is a miscommunication from my team."

That doesn't mean Evans hasn't at least thought about the possibility.

"Honestly, I spoke to him a few days ago and he said he wanted to do it," said Sergeant. "However, now I'm not sure, as we spoke today and he's thinking that he wants to do his typical programme and miss the Giro. It's a long way off though, and even if he did agree to do it, it's a long way away and a lot can happen between now and then."

Just what might happen? "It's hard to say," said Sergeant, "but he's currently thousands of miles away, and we're all here in Spain for a training camp. What needs to happen is for Cadel and I sit down, face to face, and discuss the plans for next year. We'll do that at the end of January."