Although not participating in the Tour de Suisse, BMC Racing Team world champion Cadel Evans is enjoying the UCI’s No. 1 ranking as he prepares for next month’s Tour de France.

Not Supporting One Rider
The nine-day, 1,353-kilometer Tour de Suisse begins Saturday with a 7.6 km time trial in Lugano. With a line-up that includes past stage winners Alex Moos (2002) and Steve Morabito (2006), BMC Racing Team Director Sportif John Lelangue said there will not be an appointed leader. “The objective will be to go on the offensive because it’s a pretty hard race,” he said. “It will be a good final test for the group going to the Tour de France. Most of the guys going to this race will be on the Tour roster for the month of July.”

Evans No. 1 After Giro d’Italia
On the strength of his fifth place overall at the Giro d’Italia, a win at Fléche Wallone and a string of other top 10 results, Evans is on top of the world rankings. BMC Racing Team President Jim Ochowicz said that wasn’t in the plans when the team signed Evans, but it is a great honor. “We were definitely trying to be competitive in our approach to the world ranking,” Ochowicz said. “For the team to also be ranked (fifth) is a great performance we hope will continue throughout the year.”

Tour de Suisse Roster (June 12-20)
Alessandro Ballan (ITA), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Mathias Frank (SUI), Karsten Kroon (NED), George Hincapie (USA), Alex Moos (SUI), Steve Morabito (SUI), Mauro Santambrogio (ITA).