February 10, 2009 – Under conditions that he termed “epic,” Canadian Cameron Evans posted the first podium for the OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis in 2009, taking 2nd place in the Boulevard Road Race Sunday outside San Diego, CA. Ninety riders took the start in the hills east of San Diego under snowy conditions that only cleared out near the 90-mile race’s end. Only 42 finished. “It was so cold, I could barely feel my legs,” Evans commented.

The 25-year-old Evans was part of a group of seven, including teammate Jonathan Chodroff, that bridged up to a two-man break about halfway through the race.

His group also contained three riders from the V Australia/Successful Living squad, including eventual race winner Ben Day. When they caught the front duo, which included another V Australia rider, it put the numbers in their favor.

“The guys from Fly V were very aggressive on the last lap,” Evans said. “With four of them up there, I knew they would attack, and I figured one of them had a good chance of winning the race.

“First, I wanted to make sure I was at least on the podium,” he continued. “After all the attacking, it was down to me, Ben and David (Kemp; V Australia). With about 1 km to go, Ben rolled off the front and got a gap. At that point, I didn’t want to chase and drag his teammate up there, so I made sure I could at least secure second place in the sprint.”

Boulevard also marked the return of Floyd Landis to racing. Along with Evans and Chodroff, they were joined by Rory Sutherland and John Murphy. With two teammates up the road, Landis, Murphy and Sutherland were content to ride tempo in the pack. Chodroff eventually dropped back to the main pack and finished on the same time as his other three teammates, who all finished well within the top 20.

Landis, Murphy, Sutherland and Evans will all contest the Amgen Tour of California for OUCH Presented by Maxxis beginning Saturday in Sacramento.