Cadel Evans faultless in opening salvos

Stage 2: Les Essarts to Les Essarts, 23km Team Time Trial

Cadel Evans

Stage 2: Les Essarts to Les Essarts, 23km Team Time Trial

Cadel Evans flagged his intentions with a strong ride in the team time trial at Les Essarts that the yellow jersey is the end game.

He wants it on his back when he leads the BMC train onto the streets of Paris in three weeks.

The no-fuss Evans has worked quietly away at pressing his claims to finally crack it at his seventh attempt at winning this most coveted of grand tours.

Twice a runner-up, Evans goes into day three third overall - one second behind new race leader and defending world champion Thor Hushovd of Garmin Cervelo.

Hushovd finally gets to wear the jersey that was taken away from him by another Australian in Stuart O'Grady 10 years ago almost to the day.

But it is Evans who is the talk of the peloton as the race heads out of the Vendee into Brittany.

Although tantilisingly close to the yellow jersey, the 34-year-old from Barwon Heads in Victoria remains upbeat, knowing he has gained more time on several key rivals for the overall including pre-race favourite Alberto Contadorof Saxo Bank-Sungard.

“The first goal (in the time trial) was not to lose any time and the second was to see if we could gain any time,” Evans said after the finish.

“The fact that we were there in the running to nearly win was really something.

“It was a faint hope but it was also a realistic one.”

Evans stopped short of any bold predictions of just how soon we could see him in the maillot jaune.

“Looking at the bigger picture it is looking very, very good. It shows that the planning that went into my training at the start of the year is working.”

While Evans' team averaged a tick over 57kph in the time trial, he revealed that at one point, the squad reached a staggering 77kph in the out and back dash that saw them come so agonisingly close to seeing him in yellow.

Elsewhere, HTC-Highroad's Matt Goss is the next best of the remaining five Australians in the field at 10 seconds, in a small, but elite group of  riders in Andreas Kloden, Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer from Team RadioShack.

Goss finds himself also in contention for the white jersey, as the best young rider.

And just like the more seasoned Evans, the Launceston-raised Goss is also one second off  taking the jersey off the back of Team Sky's Geraint Thomas.

Mark Renshaw, who rides alongside Goss at HTC, is at 1min 24 secs, while O'Grady, himself a former wearer of both the yellow and green, comes in at 79th, 1.53 down on Hushovd.

Richie Porte, who led the Saxo Bank train across the finish line in Les Essarts is at 2.18 while Simon Gerrans from Sky is at 2.54.