Team BMC Racing has built a solid team roster for the 2011 Tour de France around former World Champion Cadel Evans. The team heads to the Tour de France working solely to secure the overall Tour de France victory for Evans. There are no other ambitions or objectives for the team. Everything else is irrelevant according to Team BMC Racing sports director John Lelangue.

After a solid performance in this year's spring races Team BMC Racing has great faith in Cadel Evans and his ability to fight his way to overall victory in the Tour de France 2011 in the unstoppable fashion he is so well-known for.

Evans has won two of four stage races he has participated in this season so far. The Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy in March and the Tour de Romandie in Switzerland in May. He finished runner-up in a third (Critérium du Dauphine Libere in France) last week.

Lelangue said the two-time Tour de France podium finisher (2007, 2008) will have fresh legs all around him, as no one on the squad competed at the Giro d'Italia.

"We have a well-balanced Tour de Frane team. Between the experienced classics riders, who will help keep Cadel out of trouble, as well as the remaining riders who are there for the middle and high-mountain stages. We also have a good squad for the stage 2team time trial, even if it is a short one (23 kilometers)."

Team BMC Racing President and General Manager Jim Ochowicz told Roadcycling.com and our mobile sister site Roadcycling.mobi that he and the rest of the team management is recognizing the need to bolster its support for Evans compared to the support Evans was offered in last year's Tour de France where Evans held the race lead for one day before being diagnosed with a fractured elbow. Evans went on to finish the Tour in 26th overall.

"Last year versus this year, we are in a better position to take on the Tour de France. We recognized that we needed to get a little bit more support for Cadel (Evans) in the mountains," Ochowicz said and continued "But we still have guys with lots of experience like George (Hincapie) and (Marcus) Burghardt to help him, too."

This year Hincapie will be making his 16th Tour de France start, tying Joop Zoetemelk's Tour de France participation record. A three-time U.S. national road champion, Hincapie has finished 14 editions of the Tour de France and is the only supporting rider to ever be on a Tour-winning team eight times. Seven of them riding in support for Lance Armstrong.

Team BMC Racing roster for Tour de France 2011:
Cadel Evans (AUS), Marcus Burghardt (GER), George Hincapie (USA), Brent Bookwalter (USA), Amaël Moinard (FRA), Steve Morabito (SUI), Ivan Santaromita (ITA), Manuel Quinziato (ITA), and Michael Schär (SUI).