Cadel Evans and BMC Racing Team owner Andy Rihs in Adelaide, Australia, before the start of this year's Tour Down Under (Image credit: Sirotti)
Cadel Evans's Tour de France win was built on a foundation of strong legs and tactical intelligence but the 34-year-old Australian also thanked his closest supporters for helping him achieve his biggest goal.
One of those supporters has been Andy Rihs, the owner of BMC, and passionate cycling fan. Rihs ran the Phonak team but came back into the sport several years later and built the BMC Racing Team into a ProTour level squad within just a few years.
At the tail-end of 2009 they signed Evans from Lotto in one of the most surprising transfers in recent years. 2010 was a mixed year, Evans was strong in the Classics but faded in the Giro d'Italia, due to illness, and crashed out of contention - but still finished - the Tour de France.
For 2011, Evans, with the backing of Rihs, altered his racing programme dramatically, dropping the Giro in a bid to go full-tilt for the Tour. It paid off and on Sunday Rihs was in Paris with Evans to celebrate Australia's first Tour de France win.
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