THE one person who could cruel Cadel Evans's Tour de France winning hopes if he has his way could be - of all people - another Australian in former cyclist and Team Columbia sports director Allan Peiper.
As the 3560-kilometre Tour ventured into the first of two days in the hilly Massif Central on Thursday, Peiper gave every indication that he aims to devise plots and ploys aimed at toppling Evans. Heightening the danger is that Peiper also has intimate knowledge of Evans's weaknesses and strengths from having worked as a sports director on the Tour favourite's team in 2006.
Before Wednesday's 232km fifth stage from Cholet to Chateauroux in the Loire Valley, Peiper didn't refrain from putting added pressure on the 31-year-old Evans by casting speculation that he knew his game plan.
"I hear Evans is probably going to have a go and shake the peloton up," Peiper said of the first day of the Massif Central, the sixth stage from Aigurande to the summit finish at Super-Besse on Thursday.
Whether Peiper intended to stir interest or not, he did. He also added that danger lurked for Evans and opportunity existed for his rivals in Friday's 159km seventh stage from Brioude to Aurillac.
The motivation for Peiper is clear: his US-registered team could have a dark horse for overall victory in one of their own - Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen, who was seventh in last year's Tour and is in far better form now.
"I am not surprised how strong Kim is riding. He has put his whole year's focus on the Tour," Peiper said. Kirchen, 30 and in his fourth Tour, is a good climber, as he showed in the Fleche Wallonne classic in Belgium in April, beating Evans with his burst on the brutally steep climb to the finish line.
It is thought Kirchen's biggest weakness in the Tour will be tackling the long and high mountains of the Pyrenees and the Alps. However, Evans's Silence-Lotto camp would be wise to recall how the Tour brings the best out of riders, especially if they claim the leader's yellow jersey - as Kirchen could well do.
Kirchen also has a strong team to help him. Team Columbia boasts a wealth of Tour experience and horsepower, despite the absence of Australian teammate Michael Rogers and Linus Gerdemann.
Kirchen rode into the Massif Central for stage six in second place overall at 12 seconds behind German race leader Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner). Evans was fourth, 21 seconds back.
The top order was destined to undergo a reshuffle on the Super-Besse finish. And Peiper did not hide Team Columbia's intentions to be in the fray on that stage and again on Friday's leg. Buoyed by British sprinter Mark Cavendish's stage-five win from Cholet to Chateauroux, Peiper said that Team Columbia would now focus on helping Kirchen to do well.
"The goal is still like it was at the start of the Tour, to try to get Kirchen on the podium, to keep our feet on the ground, recoup as much energy as we can," he said. "[We must] save as many guys as we can for when we are really going to need them in and between the mountain stages going to Paris."
The Tour does not reach the Pyrenees until Sunday, but Peiper said whichever team had the yellow jersey in the Massif Central could expect to be stretched by the inevitable challenges that would come.
"It is going to be difficult to control [the race in the] Massif Central. Whoever has the yellow [for stage seven] is going to have quite a difficult day trying to control it through the Massif Central," Peiper said.
Evans, meanwhile, was happy to have started the stages in the Massif Central as well as he did.
"That was really well controlled and all the conditions were favourable, not like the other days," said Evans about the fifth stage where he finished 28th but in the same time to Cavendish.
It was not lost on Evans that one of his main rivals for the Tour, Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), was reminded of the constant hazards on otherwise unimportant stages such as Wednesday's.
Valverde crashed after 90km, landing on the right shoulder that he broke in the 2006 Tour. After suffering cuts to his right shoulder, knee and back, he said: "It looked like I wrestled with a lion."
Asked if he saw the fall, Evans said: "No I didn't … that is why I try to hang near the front."
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