A four-time Olympian,[4] Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with Greg LeMond and Egan Bernal – to have won the Tour de France, winning the race in 2011.

After finishing outside the top twenty in 2009 and 2010, Evans became the first Australian rider to win the Tour de France in 2011, riding for the BMC Racing Team.

[8] He spent his early childhood in the small Aboriginal community of Barunga, 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Katherine.

His father describes him as a good student, but otherwise just an ordinary kid who would leave his toys around; "Not in [my] wildest dreams" would he imagine that his son would become a top world athlete.

[8] Evans started his international career in 1995 as a Scholarship-holder in the Australian Institute of Sport mountain bike (MTB) Program, under A.I.S.

While Evans was at the Australian Institute of Sport, physiological tests showed he possessed a rare combination – an unusually high lung volume and the capacity to absorb more oxygen from each breath than 99.9 per cent of the population.

[13] In March 2017, Evans was back on a mountain bike and competing in the Masters category at the eight-day Cape Epic stage race in South Africa over 641 kilometres (398 miles).

The race, held in a two-person team format saw Evans partner George Hincapie – his domestique at the 2011 Tour de France – and they won the category.

At Mapei, he was coached by Aldo Sassi, who helped him make the transition from mountain biker to grand tourer.

Evans won the Tour de Romandie, beating Spanish riders Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde on the last stage, a 20-kilometre (12-mile) time trial around Lausanne.

He finished fifth in the Tour de France but was promoted to fourth after the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis due to a failed drug test.

Evans was a favourite to win the Tour de France because Contador was not allowed to participate as his team Astana were not invited.

While recovering from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament,[16] Evans contested the 245-kilometre (152-mile) men's road race at the Beijing Olympics, finishing 15th, 22 seconds behind Samuel Sánchez.

Evans won stage seven of the race with a dominating sprint from the front of a small group, after resisting numerous attacks from Alexander Vinokourov in the final 10 kilometres (6.2 mi).

[24] During stage 19, Evans was forced to chase an early breakaway containing the general classification contenders and led by Alberto Contador, who at the time was seeking his 4th Tour de France win.

He again led the peloton to pull back the contender group, keeping himself within striking distance for overall victory by remaining just under a minute behind Andy Schleck.

"[27] Evans said immediately following the tour that he was unsure of how his win would be received in Australia, saying "I haven't had time to consider that aspect, to be honest.

[30] Evans also took a prestigious victory on stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné after attacking on the last descent, catching and out sprinting the two men who were at the front of the race, Jérôme Coppel (Saur–Sojasun) and Andrey Kashechkin (Astana).

On stage 7, Evans showed great form by finishing second atop La Planche des Belles Filles, registering the same time as rival Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, the latter grabbing the yellow jersey.

[34] He suffered another setback in the high mountain stage from Albertville to La Toussuire-Les Sybelles (stage 11), where he tried a daring attack with teammate Tejay van Garderen 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) away from the summit of the Col de la Croix de Fer with almost 60 km (37.3 mi) to go in the race.

The attempted escape failed and he was subsequently dropped on the slopes leading to La Toussuire, being unable to follow the pace set by Chris Froome.

[35] Stage 14 saw Evans puncture three times as tacks had been thrown on the road, with Team Sky calling a temporary halt to the racing on the descent.

He finished the Tour in seventh position, 15 minutes and 49 seconds down on winner Wiggins and stated that he would be back as BMC's leader in 2013.

In April, he placed eighth in the Giro del Trentino, a short stage race he rode in preparation for the Italian Grand Tour.

[43] The Giro d'Italia featured cold and wet weather, leading Bicycling magazine to call it "one of the more grueling Grand Tours in recent memory.

He lost his second place on the last mountain stage, climbing to Tre Cime di Lavaredo, which was hindered by snowfall.

[46] Evans was the designated leader of his team in the Tour de France, but he encountered major difficulties as he was constantly dropped from the leading group in mountainous stages.

The Tour concluded in a major disappointment for Team BMC, as Evans took 39th place and Van Garderen finished 45th while Briton Chris Froome won the overall classification.

[59] Winning The Sydney Morning Herald 2007 Sports Performer of the Year, Evans pledged to donate his $50,000 winner's prize to charity, including the Amy Gillett Foundation, established in memory of Australian rower and cyclist Amy Gillett, who was killed on the eve of a stage race in Germany in 2005, when she and her Australian teammates were struck by a car.

Another nominated beneficiary was Ian Thorpe's Fountain for Youth, established by the Olympic swimmer to alleviate and treat illness and disease in people under 20.