Cadel Evans locked up victory in the UCI's season-long ProTour for 2007 after finishing sixth in Saturday's Giro di Lombardia, which was won by Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital).
Evans was one of the stronger riders in the race, riding with the likes of winner Cunego, Fränk Schleck (CSC), Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Prodir) at the head of the remaining pack when other favorites like world champion Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step-Innergetic) could not follow anymore.
Before the race, Evans told Cyclingnews, "It is the most suitable one-day of the race for year for me."
Evans held off Luca Mazzanti (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) and Thomas Dekker (Rabobank) to take sixth. The points he scored placed him as the ProTour leader. Prior to the race, the 30 year-old was at a 15-point deficit to Danilo Di Luca, who was not allowed to start the race due to his suspension by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).
While Di Luca is appealing his disqualification from the competition by the UCI, Evans' sixth place ensured that even if the Italian is later reinstated into the ProTour rankings by CAS, he still finishes five points clear of Di Luca in the standings."
Following Evans in the final ProTour standings are Italian Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) and Spaniards Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank). Rebellin moved up from sixth in the standings with his fifth place Saturday. Contador and Valverde did not race the finale, but retained their previous places in the rankings. Valverde had to pull out of competition just prior to the race due to a fever.
