Six of Cadel Evans' teammates from successful 2011 Tour de France set to help Aussie again this year

CADEL Evans will be supported by six of the riders who helped him to victory in the 2011 Tour de France when this year's Tour starts on Saturday.

Familiar faces to help Cadel again

CADEL Evans will be supported by six of the riders who helped him to victory in the 2011 Tour de France when the centenary Tour starts in Corsica on Saturday.

Brent Bookwalter, Marcus Burghardt, Amaël Moinard, Steve Morabito, Manuel Quinziato and Michael Schar were part of the BMC win two years ago and return looking for further success.

American Tejay van Garderen, winner of last year's white jersey as best young rider, and world champion Philippe Gilbert complete the team.

Evans has been named as BMC leader despte van Garderen's Tour of California win and his fifth place in last season's Tour - two places higher than Evans.

"I am happy to have my three 'guardian angels' - Quinziato, Burghardt and Schar - around me, plus Brent, Amaël and Steve from our successful 2011 team," Evans told Cyclingnews.

"And with Tejay coming into the mix, we are a lot stronger in the mountains than in past years."

Evans said he was in better condition than in 2010 when he last attempted the Tour-Giro d'Italia double.

The Australian finished third in last month's Tour of Italy.

"My recovery and training has progressed well this time as we attempt the Giro-Tour double," he said.

"When I look back at our 2010 attempt, I feel a lot better this time around," he said.