The likelihood is that Evans would have received an assurance that his leadership would be intact for the Centenary Tour before Wednesday's route presentation. But Evans, who will be back in Australia next month for his annual off-season break and training, should be even more reassured by having it put on public record as Ochowicz did. ''We're going with Cadel as the team captain and then van Garderen as back-up. Not joint leaders,'' Ochowicz told Cyclingnews.com. ''Tejay is still mentoring under Cadel and we don't want to put the pressure on him yet. ''That's good pressure for Cadel because he knows that he has a strong teammate.'' Add to that the fact that Evans should also be better rested for next year's campaign after finishing this season earlier than planned to fully recover from a nagging health issue, and now knows that the Tour route is ideal for him, he has the chance to be as best prepared as ever.

Dubbed the Centenary Tour because it will be the 100th edition since its 1903 debut - in which time only World War I and II have stopped the race from being held - the 2013 Tour will start in Corsica without a traditional prologue time trial, but with three road stages. Evans, who will be 36 at next year's Tour, was as excited about his prospects in a field that will include Spaniard Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), Luxembourg's Andy Schleck (RadioShack), and British teammates Chris Froome (Sky) and Wiggins (Sky) who says the course doesn't suit him and that he will help Froome after trying to win the Giro d'Italia. The 3360km route has less time-trialling that suited Wiggins this year, and allowed him and his team to shut down the race from the stage nine time trial which he won. Back next year is a team time trial of 25km on stage four at Nice - a discipline BMC were second in 2011 - two individual time trials of 33km and 32km, and six mountain stages with four summit finishes. The first of those summit finishes is stage eight, 194km from from Castres to Ax 3 Domaines in the Pyrenees; followed by stage 15 in Provence from Givors to Mont Ventoux - at 242km the longest of the race. Then comes stage 18 in the Alps from Gap to l'Alpe d'Huez over 168km that includes two ascents up the famed ski station summit. ''The finish to l'Alpe d'Huez is going to be interesting,'' Evans said. ''I've never ridden up the backside [of the Col de Sarenne that follows the first ascent of l'Alpe d'Huez], so I might have to go and look at that in training. It's really something to ride in the front group of the Tour de France on the l'Alpe d'Huez and to go up there twice means it's going to be a very special day.''

But as important as that stage should be, the Tour is poised to go down to the wire with stage 19 from Bourg d'Oisans to Le Grand Bornand (204km) and 20 from Annecy to Semnoz (125km) also being mountain stages, and the latter of the two having another summit finish. And to cap it off, the Tour will have a twilight finish - rather than a traditional late afternoon finale - for the last and 21st 118km stage from Versailles to the Champs Elysees in Paris. Loading As Evans said: ''I feel much more comfortable with this course in 2013, it is a nice mix of stages. The more mixed and varied it is, the better it seems to be [for me].'' Twitter: @rupertguinness