The Tour de France winner on retiring from cycling, why he would rather wear pink than green, and not making it as a cricketer

Cadel Evans: 'Car doors and being hit from behind scare me the most'

Small Talk has heard that you’ve announced your retirement – so there’s just the Australian summer to come?

That’s correct. Nationals, then the Tour Down Under and then the Great Ocean Road Race.

How does it feel to be looking at the final stages?

I’m looking forward to the races as best I can, but looking forward to my future as well, and some slightly quieter, less strenuous challenges after my last race.

What sort of things will you be getting up to?

I’m involved in a couple of things with some companies I work with, like Oakley, but also a couple of things with design and development and testing with the BMC Bikes that I’ve been riding on the last five years. And some PR and media relations and so on.

So you’re not exactly going to be short of activities?

Absolutely not. All spare moments to come will be dedicated to my four-year-old, and I’ve got a few other things I’m involved with in Australia and in Europe as well.

Have you ever had a morning when you woke up and thought, “I have nothing to do today”?

Not since I started cycling. Probably school holidays at age 12, about 25 years ago.

You should try one out now and then, Small Talk recommends them.

I’ve had days when I’ve woken up and didn’t want to do anything. But I might try one of those next year if I get the chance.

So the Tour Down Under. Simon Gerrans tends to be in deadly form that time of year, and Orica-GreenEDGE really focus on it as their race. How do you counter that?

Like this year, prepare as well as you can, be there as best as possible. We’ll be looking at the stages to see how well they suit someone like Simon Gerrans or myself. For the Nationals we just have to be realistic – BMC will have three, and Orica could have as many as 15, so the task is ahead of us. Have to hope that a bit of luck helps the race pan out in our situation. Orica prepare these races as thoroughly as any other big race of the year, so they’re hard to beat, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be beaten.



Strength in numbers: the Orica-Greenedge team in the Nationals. Photograph: Tim Renowden

It’s been a pattern in your career that you have to ride unaided against a rival with a strong team – are you sick of doing that?

There have been quite a few occasions, yeah, when I’ve been isolated, I spent years at the Tour often isolated. But when it came down to win or lose the Tour in 2011, all those years of experience being solo proved to be very, very useful.

That allowed me to win the Tour and that’s just the path my career’s taken. For years I didn’t have a team that had real faith in me, or the experience for a team to be built around me or for whatever reason, but in the end I got together with BMC in 2010/11, we had a fantastic team and the results proved that.

You’ve made a few political statements in your career – will you be liberated to be more vocal politically once you’ve retired?

Sometimes with athletes if you’re representing a commercial entity or asked not to comment on certain subjects it’s easier not to comment on anything at all. I’ll probably have a little bit of involvement but I’ve got so many things on already…I don’t think a career in politics is a desire for me. Possibly I’ll voice an opinion, but I’m not a spokesperson for politics, I’ll leave that to those who are experts in the subjects.

Chris Horner won the Vuelta España when he was just shy of 42, are we going to see a comeback from you in four years?

[Laughs] No! I could have gone on, I could have continued longer in my career, but my thing was, if I continue will I make my career better? I’m not so sure about that, so when I call it stop it’ll be stop. I’ll keep riding my bike, I hope to stay very fit and healthy, that’s my intention, but to race at the top level – no, the first of February is going to be my last race. After that some small events maybe but at the top level, that’s going to be it.

Will you just cruise around Victoria taking everyone’s best times on the cycling apps?

I’d rather spend my time riding my bike than talking about riding my bike.

So you’re collaborating on design work – what are you doing to the bicycle? Have you reinvented it?

[The engineers] have put forward some concepts, particularly in handlebars but also in communications – integrating technology into cycling further. That’s been very interesting because it puts me five or ten years out of the headspace that an athlete would normally work in. I want to see the development from here. When I look back ten years at the equipment we used – now we have mobile phones, computers, how the bicycles were ten years ago and what we ride today –anything’s possible. Why not be creative and imaginative?

If anything’s possible are there any plans to develop hoverbikes?

Which bikes?

Hoverbikes.

We’re working on handlebars right now! Maybe I’ll propose that at the next meeting with the designers.

Small Talk would appreciate it if you could.

We’re looking at human-powered vehicles at the moment. You might have to speak with Nasa about this before I can give any input.

As it happens, both you and Small Talk are Eltham high school alumni…

No way!

True story.

I was just at my high school reunion on Saturday. 20 year reunion, class of ’94.

How was that?

It was fun, actually. Everyone has aged 20 years, but not many of them showed it, and everyone had a similar personality. The ones that were funny were still funny, that ones that were a bit nuts were a bit nuts, the ones that studied very hard now build satellites and lecture at universities and are research scientists at CSIRO and so on. In terms of journalists I don’t think there were any in my year.

Did you find yourself slipping back into the roles you had at school?

I felt completely like I was 15 again, it was fantastic. I think we all did, actually. I didn’t know what to expect really, it was the first reunion I’d ever been to. It was a really nice afternoon.

Oh, because you wouldn’t have been in the country usually?

No, I’ve spent so much time overseas. I’ve seen in passing maybe ten people over the last 20 years, but I’ve been living overseas nine or ten months of the year. That’s why I read the Guardian Australia online to keep abreast of what’s going on. The other side of the world is the other side of the world.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cadel Evans in the memorable Predictor colours in 2008. Photograph: Friedemann Vogel/Bongarts/Getty Images

Nice of you to say. So what’s the worst team kit? We were recently recalling the pink Predictor-Lotto jersey from 2008.

Yeah, well I didn’t even know what Predictor was, and then I turned up for my local group ride and someone told me. [It’s a Belgian brand of pregnancy test.] That colour was probably the least favourable, but I never had to race in green, which I’m happy about.

Not a fan of green?

I don’t know, green doesn’t often look good in cycling. For professional cycling teams anyway. But probably Predictor would be a good pick.

Did you wonder how many pregnancy tests they were hoping to sell from sponsoring your team?

[coyly] I… don’t know those numbers. Often it’s just about brand awareness. At least everyone who watches the cycling knows about Predictor. They may not know what it is, but if they ever go in to buy a pregnancy test, maybe that’s where the branding starts.

Does a cyclist of your stature still get hit by car doors?

I certainly have to watch out for them. People ask about the Tour and how scary it is, but no – car doors and being hit from behind are still what scares me the most, being a professional cyclist.

If you had played another sport, what would it have been?

What I wanted to be, or what I had the talent to be?

If you could have been anything.

When I was young I wanted to play in the Australian cricket team but I had no talent. When I got a bit older I would have loved to race V8 Supercars, but same thing.

What’s your cricket specialty? Bowler, batsman?

Occasional participant, that’s all.

Fielding at fine leg?

That’s the least desired position, is it?

It’s the least likely to have to do much.

Oh right, that’s why I always ended up down there. When I played when I was young I tried to bowl fast, I tried to spin it, and I couldn’t do either.

It’s been a pleasure to chat, thanks for the time.

Thanks Small Talk, I’ll see you next time.