With the second edition of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race now in the books, the Australian legend is now focussing once more on how he can turn his new event into one of the biggest on the calendar.

The 2016 event, won by Sky’s Peter Kennaugh after the inaugural event was won by Etixx-QuickStep’s Gianni Meersman, pulled in big names like Mark Cavendish, Simon Gerrans and Ryder Hesjedal and Evans wants to grow the race further.

"It’s a perfect weekend on so many levels, one being we can complement the Tour Down Under as an event and for riders’ preparation. I’d like to think you can come here and train here in good weather – weather that’s good to make you good,” Evans said at the race’s press conference on Thursday.

"It’s a race that’s hard enough to be selective, but not so difficult that it’s going to scare people off. It’s a gentle easing into competition because it’s a long season ahead. We have Mark Cavendish here of course, who I would say is pretty firm favourite for the World Championships this year, at other end of the season. As much as we’d love them to win here, I hope that guys like him and Ryder can go off and prepare here well to have the best season of their careers so far."