Former world road cycling champion Alessandro Ballan will lead Team BMC Racing in the absence of Tour de France Champion Cadel Evans at the 2012 Santos Tour Down Under, the first event of the 2012 UCI WorldTour.

Ballan, the 2008 world champion, heads a seven-man BMC team which includes riders from Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Australia and Great Britain for the January 15-22 race.

"Ballan is one of the true gentlemen within our sport, always conducting himself as the consummate professional," race director Mike Turtur commented earlier today.

Team BMC Racing's Greg van Avermaet of Belgium, winner of this year's Tour de Wallonie, will ride the Tour Down Under for the first time.

The BMC team comprises Italy's Ballan, Marcus Burghardt of Germany, Adam Blythe of Great Britain, Martin Kohler of Switzerland, Manuel Quinziato of Italy, Tim Roe of Australia, and Van Avermaet.

As expected Evans, the first Australian to win the Tour de France, will miss his home UCI event for the second straight year. Evans' three major targets for 2012 begin with his defense of the Tour de France in July, then take in the road race at the London Olympics and the world road titles in the Netherlands.

"I have to respect what Cadel's thoughts are and I suspect if I was in his shoes, I most probably would have done exactly the same thing," Turtur said. Evans is likely to be training in Eastern Spain while the Australian race is on.

The Tour Down Under is part of the UCI World Tour at least until 2015. The Australian stage race was the first non-European event to be added to the UCI ProTour in 2008 and was selected by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong for his international comeback in 2009.

Armstrong also rode in the Tour Down Under in 2010 and this year, making it his last pro cycling event outside of the United States.