Evans skips Belgian criterium

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans pulled out of the one day criterium held in Flanders on Tuesday with a reported injured knee.

According to organizer Denis Bolle the Australian cyclist sustained the
problem at a party put on by his team Silence Lotto in a Parisian cafe on Sunday night to celebrate the end of the Tour.

“It shows a flagrant lack of respect,” said Bolle, adding he had only been told of Evans’ absence “a few hours before the criterium.”

But Evans and the Australian Olympic Committee said earlier speculation that Evans’ injury threatened his participation at the Olympic Games was “just rumor.”

Evans is due to link up with his fellow Olympic competitors at a pre-Games
training camp in Varese, northern Italy, during the week.

Meanwhile, Tour winner Carlos Sastre attended the race and spent part of his day visiting children in the cancer ward at a local hospital.

FILED UNDER: Road / Tour de France TAGS: Tour de France