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But this month another Australian, in the shape of his Silence teammate Matthew Lloyd, could offer that tiny, extra advantage that, for Evans, could make the difference between victory and another runner-up place.

Evans knows all about finishing second best, as he admitted when he underlined his increased hopes for this year's race.

For the past three years he has finished runner-up in the Dauphine Libere stage race, a major warm-up for the Tour, and finished second in the past two editions of the Tour de France.

But after finishing runner-up to Alberto Contador in 2007 and then to his fellow Spaniard Carlos Sastre in 2008, it's not something Evans admits to being too fond of.

In some ways his task this year even appears harder with the return of the Astana team, which includes race favourite Contador, who was absent last year, not to mention the Spaniard's famous teammate, seven-time champion Lance Armstrong.

But their presence could also be beneficial to the Italy-based Australian, who hopes a marriage between his "better" all-round team and the improvement in his climbing and time trialling leads to a blissful result in Paris on July 26.

"With Contador and Armstrong back, and the fact Sastre's on another team and the Schleck brothers (Andy and Frank) leading Saxo Bank, for me personally it makes it better because more teams will be looking to control the race," said Evans.

"That (task) kind of fell to us last year, although it was only since February last year that we were considered a Tour de France-winning team.

"Normally you build up to that over a number of years but we had to get used to it overnight."

On February 13, 2008 Evans awoke still believing he was among two or three contenders for the race's yellow jersey.

A day later, after Contador and his Astana team were informed by organisers they would not be invited to the race, Evans automatically became everyone's number one favourite.

It was far from welcome for someone who finds that the media can be demanding to the point that, ironically, they disrupt his training schedule.

As a result, becoming the race favourite put extra, unwanted pressure on his shoulders from February 14 until the end of the Tour in Paris.

"Last year on February 13 when Astana were excluded from the Tour I was at home minding my own business. On February 14 I spent five hours on the telephone (speaking to media), and I didn't answer all the calls," said Evans.

"I had to cancel an appointment with my physiotherapist because I didn't have time to do that and my training.

"Normally riders build into that (status) year after year, but for us as a team it changed very quickly."

The situation was only exacerbated by the fact his Silence team was not one of the strongest at last year's race.

In the end, after Evans had fought back from a crash on the ninth stage and pulled on the yellow jersey a day later in the Pyrenees, albeit briefly, the collective strength of the dominant CSC team made the difference for Sastre.

This year it could be argued Evans' team is still far from perfect for his goals.

But at least in Lloyd, racing his first Tour in the wake of some great performances at the Dauphine despite his recent recovery from injury after a crash at the Amstel Gold Race, Evans hopes to have found a reliable lieutenant.

Lloyd's presence may not hand Evans the yellow jersey, especially as teams like Astana and Saxo Bank will be giving nothing away for free in the mountains.

But Evans believes that having the diminutive climber at his side can give him a huge psychological boost.

"I'm expecting Saxo Bank and Astana to all have teammates around them in the mountains," said Evans.

"Having Matt here, the main thing that it changes for me is if something happens. If I get a puncture or need more water, that's when it really matters.

"Not having to worry about things like that, psychologically, makes it a lot easier."