Former Tour de France winner Cadel Evans says that former teammate Rohan Dennis can win a Grand Tour if he focuses on the mountains. Dennis has already shown stage race prowess, winning the USA Pro Challenge and the Tour Down Under last year.

“A grand tour, that’s a big ask and it’s going to depend on Rohan,” Evans told the Herald Sun newspaper. “For a guy to make that bigger change physically and mentally, there’s a lot of work behind that. Brad (Wiggins) went and did that, but he did it once and now he’s gone back to the track because it consumed a lot of him to take that step.”

“I won’t say Rohan can’t win the Tour de France, but the question is ... is he willing to sacrifice maybe 6-8 years to do it? Or does he stay focused on the stage races he’s already winning like the Tour Down Under, the prologue at the Tour the hour record, which are fantastic objectives in their own right.”

Evans also hopes Australia can have another Grand Tour win from Richie Porte, Jack Haig or Robert Power, saying the latter’s serious knee injury isn’t the end of his chances despite only being 20.