The key moments in Cadel Evans' celebrated cycling career, with his professional career ending on Sunday in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road race:
* 1995 - Evans joins the Australian Institute of Sport under mountain biking coach Damien Grundy, a key mentor early in his career. Evans famously tests off the chart in the physiology lab, producing numbers that are still benchmarks today.
* 1999 Tour of Tasmania - Evans is on top of his game in cross-country mountain biking, having raced at the 1996 Olympics and winning the '98 and '99 World Cup series. He also competes on the road and his storming ride up Mt Wellington in Hobart to win the tour stuns onlookers. Phil Liggett and Phil Anderson agree Evans can win the Tour de France.
* 2000 Ferrari test - Evans conducts a mountain-climb test, supervised by Italian doctor Michele Ferrari. Evans is adamant it is the only time he has worked with Ferrari, now banned for life because of doping. Ferrari, a sports science guru, confirms Evans has what it takes as a road rider. Soon after Evans switches to road racing full-time.
* 2002 Giro d'Italia - Under Italian mentor Aldo Sassi, a prominent anti-doping advocate, Evans continues to develop as a road rider. He bursts to prominence by leading the Giro for one day. It is the first display of his ability as a Grand Tour rider.
* 2005 - Evans switches to Belgian team Davitamon-Lotto and makes his much-anticipated Tour de France debut, finishing eighth overall.
* 2008 Tour de France - Evans finishes runner-up for the second successive year. He famously declares during the chaos of a stage finish that if his dog Molly is stepped on, "I'll cut your head off".
* 2009 - from disaster to triumph. The pivotal year of Evans' career. After a disastrous Tour de France, Evans saves his season by finishing third at the Vuelta a Espana and then winning the world road championship. He also switches teams to BMC.
* 2010 - After starring on the famous Willunga stage at the Tour Down Under, Evans becomes the first Australian to win the Fleche Wallonne one-day classic. He is also fifth overall at the Giro, but after leading the Tour de France for one day he drops out of contention with an elbow fracture.
* 2011 - glory. Evans becomes the first Australian to win the Tour de France. He produces arguably the ride of his career on stage 18, restricting the damage in the Alps when rival Andy Schleck unleashes a long attack. Schleck wins the stage and takes the overall lead, but Evans stays in touch. Two days later, Evans takes the yellow jersey in the Grenoble time trial.
* 2012 - the joy of a son, but also illness and frustration. Evans and his wife Chiara adopt Robel, an abandoned Ethiopian baby, and he revels in fatherhood. But he contracts a stomach bug while visiting Ethiopia and this eventually scuppers his Tour de France title defence. He finishes seventh at the Tour and is forced to pull out of the London Olympics time trial.
* 2013 - By finishing third in the Giro, Evans becomes the first Australian to finish on the podium in the three Grand Tours - the Tour de France, the Giro and Vuelta. He is already the first Australian to hold the leader's jersey in the three races. He also races the Tour for the last time, finishing 39th.
* September 2014 - Evans announces his impending retirement.
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