Evans eyes double

A little over two weeks after finishing second behind Spain's Alberto Contador in the Tour, the Australian was back in the saddle to win the time trial at the Olympic test event in Beijing at the weekend.

Tour winners such as Miguel Indurain have won Olympic titles but never in the same year as topping the podium in Paris.

"I think I probably could (win both)," Evans said.

"It's never been done (but) if you're good enough to win the Tour, you're good enough to win the road race or the time trial, whichever you focus on."

Evans participated in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics in mountain bike racing, finishing seventh in Sydney seven years ago after starting as a medal favourite.

So would there be an element of redemption in finally nailing a gold medal?

"Absolutely," the 30-year-old said.

"My first Olympics was a steep learning curve, the second was an even steeper learning curve. In 2004, I was having a couple of bad years.

"So hopefully I'll come back with a bit of experience, get it all right and have a better result than I've got in the past."

Evans is not overly concerned that the schedules mean he will have so little time to recover from his Tour exertions before next year's Olympics.

"I raced in the Tour two weeks ago and I'm here now," he said.

"It's the same for everybody... I don't mind, I travel so much coming from Australia that I'm probably a bit more used to it than a lot of people."

One of the reasons he made the effort to be in Beijing at the weekend was to assess the pollution in the city.

He complained to an Australian newspaper about sore throat and lungs after the road race but hoped his fact-finding mission would hold him in good stead next year.

Scandal tainted the Tour this year once again when favourite Alexander Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping and leader Michael Rasmussen was sacked by his team for lying about his whereabouts during training.

"I'm happy the cheats are being caught, I'm disappointed for the short-term effects on cycling," Evans said.

"But for the long-term effect, I think cycling's setting an example to the world.

"Everyone is keen to write and complain about cheats that have been caught and the scandals," he added.

"I've never seen an article written about how stringent the testing is in cycling compared to any other sport in the world."

"We also have the most transparent political and bureaucratic system, there's nothing hidden."

By achieving the best finish for an Australian in the Tour last month, Evans hopes he has exposed his compatriots to the positive attractions of the "beautiful event".

"From what I've heard, the reaction's been really, really positive," he said.

"The Tour now has a few more followers in Australia than it did."