Cadel Evans lets pedals do the talking at Giro d'Italia

FOR a bloke who won the Tour de France less than two years ago, the wolves were quick to park themselves at Cadel Evans' door this year.

FOR a bloke who won the Tour de France less than two years ago, the wolves were quick to park themselves at Cadel Evans' door this season.

Media commentators aside, as recently as March Australian cycling icon Phil Anderson said Evans still needed to prove himself if he deserved to lead Team BMC at the Tour in July.

"Cadel certainly has to prove himself before the Tour. He can't go into the Tour the way he is now and expect (Tejay) van Garderen to ride for him," Anderson said.

Evans is no neo-pro. At 36 he is on the wrong side of father time but an elite time trialler who can climb just as well.

It was a matter of if, not when, he rediscovered the form of a Grand Tour leader.
In the first week of the Giro d'Italia he has done exactly that.

He managed to avoid a crash in stage one, lost time in the team time trial on stage two, which was obviously beyond his control, then on stage three survived a final climb on which reigning Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins was dropped.

The big test, however, was still to come. He was seventh in the stage eight 54km individual time trial, which was seen as a positive showing despite losing 29secs to Wiggins and 18 to current race leader Vincenzo Nibali.

But remember - last month Evans declared he was riding the Giro "with ambitions but not high expectations" and the purpose of which was to be cherry ripe for the Tour de France. Wiggins and Nibali are racing to win and will accept nothing less.

But the most telling performance from Evans this week was his relentless pursuit of the leaders on the Giro's first serious mountain stage overnight.

As the likes of Wiggins and defending champion Ryder Hesjedal fell victim to the two long, vicious climbs of up to 20 per cent gradient on the way to Altopiano del Montasio, Evans refused to falter.

Nibali attacked and dropped Evans in the final kilometres but the Australian dug in and bridged the gap to finish fifth with the pink jersey group, 31secs down on stage winner Rigoberto Uran.

That Uran was able to ride away from everyone is a scary proposition for what Team Sky is capable of when Chris Froome leads them in France in July.

But as far as Evans is concerned, he's doing exactly what he needs to for now.

"I'm happy to pass the first real mountain day and at least hold my place in classification," said Evans, who starts tonight's 182km stage 11 second overall and 41secs behind Nibali.

Wiggins - who started the Giro a scorching favourite - is fourth at 2mins 5secs off the race lead.

It was not unfair to question Evans' unflattering form this season, which was compounded by a disappointing 2012 when he finished behind teammate Tejay van Garderen in the Tour de France.

But who knows what impact his sinus-related illness had on his 2012 performances. He missed crucial lead-in races, hindering his yellow jersey defence in July.

Evans is a fighter. You don't become the oldest winner of the Tour de France since World War II without a dogged determination.

So he absolutely deserves to lead BMC at the Tour in July with the view of van Garderen - who people seem quick to forget is just 24 and should lead the team for the best part of the next decade - taking over in 2014.

That Evans had to go to the Giro to not only find his form but silence the critics is just another challenge the mountain biker turned Tour de France champion has had to overcome.