Anderson believes Evans can still make Tour podium

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Phil Anderson, the first non-European to wear the Tour de France's yellow jersey, believes that Cadel Evans can still aim for the podium in the Tour de France but doubted whether the Silence-Lotto leader is in the best team to support his Tour ambitions.

Speaking at the start of stage 14 from Colmar to Besancon, Anderson, who now runs a tour operation that visits the race each year said, "Cadel has the potential to win the race so if he wants to do that then he needs to consider the options around him. If Lotto aren’t going to build a team around him and I don’t think they’ve done in a serious way then he needs to consider a few things. It was his decision to stay with that team. Hopefully he’s making a lot more money by staying."

Anderson added that Lotto had lost the services of Bernhard Kohl and Tomas Dekker, two riders signed by the Belgian team last year: "A couple of riders have been thrown out due to circumstances, so it would have been a stronger team with them here but you don’t want those types on your team do you?"

Anderson, who also won the white jersey in the 1982 Tour pointed to the team time trial as Evans’ Achilles heel, with the Australian losing precious time to his rivals. "The team time trial was disappointing but he needs to keep his chin up and take the opportunities that arise. It’s going to be difficult to win but he can still podium with a couple of good moves in the next few days. He’s only three minutes down on yellow plus there are some other riders who’ve lost more time than him."