Aug. 12 — Cadel Evans is back in the Olympic time trial. Even though he dropped out and Michael Rogers took his spot, the UCI or OIC granted Australia a wild card spot in the time trial
The bad luck stories for Australia's Cadel Evans continue to mount up.
Even though he finished in second place overall at the 2008 Tour de France last week, he joined the post-race partying anyway and slipped and fell on a wet floor, injuring his knee.
Evans immediately refuted rumours that he had severely injured his knee and wouldn't be able to compete in the Beijing Olympics that start next weekend. Since then, however, the knee has become swollen and he realized he wouldn't be able to compete at his peak in the individual time trial on Wednesday, Aug. 13.
He announced Wednesday that he had withdrawn from the time trial.
That's a blow for the Australian cycling team, as Evans won the individual time trial at the 2007 Good Luck Beijing Road Cycling International Invitational. The ITT served as a test for the summer racing conditions in the Beijing area.
Being the gritty competitor he is, though, Evans says he will still join in the road race on Saturday, Aug. 9, to help his fellow Aussies. (Full Olympic cycling schedule.)
He's quoted:
“It's not a major injury but it's something I will have to manage carefully.
“I recognised I might not be at my absolute best in the race against the clock but I can still make a significant contribution to the team effort for the road race,” he said.
“I'll be training and getting treatment over the next few days to confirm my participation by Monday.”
Evans was the leading contender to win this year's Tour de France, but fell on Stage 9. Although he wore the yellow jersey for five days, he was unable to regain it from Carlos Sastre.
Levi Leipheimer and David Zabriskie have been chosen to ride the individual time trial for the US cycling team.
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