2013 wasn’t the best of seasons for former world champion and Tour de France winner Cadel Evans. With just one win to his name, the BMC Racing Team rider was unequivocal when passing judgement on his own season at the team’s presentation of its 2014 in Grenchen, Switzerland, on Friday.

“I’m not satisfied with my season,” Evans said. “But underperforming in 2013 only increases my hunger for the 2014 season. There’s still a lot of appetite left in these old legs,” he added jokingly. "The Giro was good, but the Tour was bad. I had one victory overall, was low in the classification and points ranking [of the Giro]. It's disappointing, but it motivates me to work harder. When you're used to winning more, you obviously expect more. On the bright side of things, however, you learn from all races, good and bad. In fact, you often learn more from bad races."

The 2011 Tour de France winner has been battling a virus during the past two seasons, which has severely hindered his ability to perform with any sort of consistency throughout a season. His 2013 season, which he labelled "a disappointment", included an overall third at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of Oman, and a stage win at the new Tour of Alberta. Evans, to his credit, has never publicly complained about his health issues or tried to use them as an easy excuse for his failure to reproduce his splendid form from the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

When Cyclingquotes.com spoke to the Australian after the official BMC Racing Team on Friday, Evans hinted that the tide may have turned regarding his health problems that saw him suffer in the 2012 Tour and subsequently cancel his scheduled participation in the Québec and Montréal World Tour races. Indeed, the effects of his virus troubles may have spilled into the 2013 season, but Evans said that a return to his 2011 level might be on the cards.

“I feel my health returning to its pre-2012 level,” Evans explained.