Aussie champ trains for another track

Words: Gary Hill

Australian Tour de France cycling star Cadel Evans is used to training six hours a day for races, but he gave his legs a rest at Sandown Park Raceway recently -- training on four wheels with the John Bowe Driving Institute in preparation for his CAMS licence test.

Evans admits to enjoying driving fast but says driving well is more important. He says he is impressed by the driving standard in Europe where people drive faster but pay better attention of and show greater consideration for cyclists.

Evans who races alongside fellow Aussie stars Robbie McEwan and Nick Gates in the Predictor-Lotto cycle team lives most of the year in Switzerland where he drives a Lotus Elise. Thus he jumped at the offer of a drive of a new Exige S from Lotus Australia to do the performance course.

Evans' instructor at Sandown, Dean Samut, said that Cadel has already shown he has the potential to make the move from cycling to motor racing.

Being used to training on his bike up Mt Buller when in Australia Evans says he would eventually like to try the Mt Buller Sprint but for now his focus is on the mountains of Europe in the cycling Pro-Tour series and this year's Le Tour.