Cycling Tour De France
Cadel Evans of Australia, 2011 Tour de France cycling race winner, waits to go on stage for the official team presentation in Liege, Belgium, Thursda...
Cadel Evans of Australia, 2011 Tour de France cycling race winner, waits to go on stage for the official team presentation in Liege, Belgium, Thursday June 28, 2012. The Tour de France cycling race starts on Saturday June 30 with the prologue, an individual time trial over 6,4 kilometers (4 miles) with start and finish in Liege, Belgium. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Cycling Tour De France
Cadel Evan of Australia, 2011 Tour de France cycling race winner, smiles as he waits to go on stage for the official team presentation in Liege, Belg...
Cadel Evan of Australia, 2011 Tour de France cycling race winner, smiles as he waits to go on stage for the official team presentation in Liege, Belgium, Thursday June 28, 2012. The Tour de France cycling race starts on Saturday June 30 with the prologue, an individual time trial over 6,4 kilometers (4 miles) with start and finish in Liege, Belgium. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Cadel Evans of Australia says he is in good shape and hopes his form will peak during his quest to defend the Tour de France title.
Britain's Bradley Wiggins is also in top form and considered one of the favorites to win cycling's biggest event that starts on Saturday in the Belgian city of Liege, with a 6.4-kilometer prologue.
"They tell me that Wiggins is the man to beat," Evans said Thursday, but added that his BMC team is ready, stronger and confident they will retain the title with a race plan that is almost identical to the winning one of last year.
The Tour will cover nearly 3,500 kilometers over the next three weeks.
The race ends July 22 on the Champs d'Elysees in Paris.
