Cadel Evans signals the changing of the guard 23 years after his first national road championship

CADEL Evans has had some magical days on the bike in his career but he also knows cycling doesn’t always follow the fairytale script.

AUSTRALIAN CYCLIG CHAMPS ROAD RACE Cadel Evans Picture:Wayne Ludbey

CADEL Evans has had some magical days on the bike in his career but he also knows cycling doesn’t always follow the fairytale script, as was the case in Buninyong on Sunday.

Racing to win his first ever national road championship in his final season of professional cycling, Australia’s only Tour de France winner was forced to watch the race for the green and gold jersey unfold ahead of him.

Evans and the man seen to be his greatest threat in Richie Porte were not in the front group of 17 riders that went clear with three laps remaining, and the group eventually produced the race-winning move of seven men who attacked with one lap to go.

As Heinrich Haussler and Caleb Ewan fought it out for the win, Evans crossed the finish line 52 seconds later with the main chase group to register an 11th-place finish in his last ever national championships — 23 years after his first as a mountain biker.

Cadel Evans had an 11th-place finish in his last ever national championships.

In between he has won the Tour de France, world championship, stages of Grand Tours, Tour of Romandie, La Fleche Wallonne, Tirreno-Adriatico and Commonwealth Games gold.

But like Sunday, he has also at times fallen agonisingly short, including back-to-back second placings in the Tour de France in 2007 and 2008 by 23 and 58 seconds respectively.

After crossing the finish line in Buninyong on Sunday, Evans rode straight to his BMC teammate in 23-year-old Campbell Flakemore, who had just ridden his first senior national championships in what was Evans’ last.

Flakemore — the current under-23 time trial world champion — was in the seven-man breakaway which was left to fight it out for line honours and finished an impressive fourth.

Evans spent almost two minutes speaking with Flakemore as if to both congratulate the emerging youngster and educate him on what he could learn from his brilliant debut performance.

Cadel Evans up the top of Mont Buninyong.

He then went back to Geelong and started packing for his trip to Adelaide this week for what will be his last ever WorldTour race at the Tour Down Under.

Everything for Evans at the moment his last — last national titles, last WorldTour race then last race of all with his own event on the Great Ocean Road.

So far it’s one down, two to go which means two more chances for the 37-year-old to leave the sport not only as a champion but also a winner.

The fairytale would have had him winning in Buninyong on Sunday then in Adelaide next week to avenge last year’s one-second loss to Simon Gerrans, before bidding farewell to his fans in Geelong on February 1.

Sport doesn’t often care for sentiment but Evans is giving everything he has and won’t walk away from cycling wondering.

Originally published as Cadel Evans signals the changing of the guard 23 years after his first national road championship