Former Tour de France winner Cadel Evans will retire in February after a final race before home fans in Australia.
Evans, who won the world championship road race in 2009 and cycling's showpiece grand tour two years later, told a press conference that the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race will be his last on Feb. 1.
A former mountain bike specialist, the 37-year-old Evans started his professional career on the road in 2001.
Regarded as a perennial underachiever until he silenced his critics to become world champion, Evans will end his season at the Tour of Lombardy on Oct. 5.
Speaking from the world championships in Spain, where he is competing in the road race, Evans says, "It has been the journey of more than a lifetime, something I could never have envisioned when first experiencing the joy of riding a bike on the dirt roads of Bamylli (Barunga) in the Northern Territory. It is amazing how far two wheels can take a person."
He will become an ambassador for his team's sponsor, BMC.
