Cadel Evans not expecting a win at his final race

Cadel Evans knows he will have his work cut out if he wants to win his final race as a professional on Sunday, despite designing the course.

The 2011 Tour de France champion bows out at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, but believes the route he’s set favours a sprinter.

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Evans, 37, will lead his team on a custom-made BMC Timemachine, painted blue to match the ocean.

“The course doesn’t suit me all that well,” he told the Herald Sun. “I designed it to make a great race, not a great race for me.

“I want it to be an interesting race not just for the one year I’ll ride it but for the 20, 30 or 50 years for which it may have the potential to continue.”

Going out on a high is what Evans has planned with his race around Geelong – the location of his 2009 World Championship win.

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But the man who’ll go down as the greatest ever Australian cyclist predicts new national champion Heinrich Haussler will take the win.

“Any race is nice to win - if you don’t want to win a race you probably shouldn’t be in competitive cycling,” he added.

“This is no different. But I’ll be the most watched rider, the most controlled rider.

“I’m guessing it might be one of the sprinters who can climb a bit.”