Armstrong and Evans at Tour Down Under in January

Lance Armstrong will have some competition as the most popular kid in the peloton for Australia's Tour Down Under bike race next January now that favorite son Cadel Evans, right, has committed to the bike race.

Evans had earlier been quoted that he was going to skip his nation's bike race because it didn't fit into his training schedule for the 2010 Tour de France, which he is hungry to win.

But having relocated to BMC Racing after dropping his five-year tenure with Silence-Lotto last week, Evans and BMC are said to be accepting a wild card to race in the Tour Down Under from January 17-24, 2010.

New teams

There's no doubt that Armstrong's return to Adelaide with his newly minted Team RadioShack will cause a huge celebration. Armstrong's decision to launch his comeback at the Tour Down Under last year helped rejuvenate that stage race.

But now he'll be sharing the spotlight with Evans, probably the most successful Australian cyclist ever with stage wins and podium finishes in the Grand Tours and a UCI ProTour title.

Evans' year

Evans' high hopes for 2009 faded with a 30th place finish (45 minutes out of first) at the Tour de France and a 3rd place finish in the Vuelta a Espana, laid essentially to a tire puncture.

But Evans resurrected his standing by winning the men's elite World Road Race Championship in Switzerland in September. He'll wear the rainbow jersey throughout 2010, starting with the Tour Down Under.

Organizers are saying the Tour Down Under may be the only chance to see cycling legends Armstrong and Evans compete on Australian soil.

It's also the first time the world will see Armstrong's Team RadioShack against the likes of BMC Racing.

Team rosters

Members of Team RadioShack include Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner of the US, as well as Andreas Kloden of Germany and Yaroslav Popovych of the Ukraine.

Meanwhile, BMC Racing has signed the likes of George Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan, Marcus Burghardt, and Karsten Kroon.

I'm already looking forward to following the Tour Down Under in sunny Australia to start the new year.