Evans upbeat despite Dekker drug shock

MONACO: Yellow jersey contender Cadel Evans remains upbeat despite the unwelcome news that Silence teammate Thomas Dekker has been ruled out of the Tour de France due to a positive doping control.

Dekker, a two-time Dutch champion, was set to help Evans in this year's July 4-26 race but found out Wednesday that a sample from December 2007, kept for later re-testing, had tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO.

On paper it disrupts the plans of Evans, a runner-up the past two years on the world's biggest bike race and one of a handful of real challengers to Spaniard Carlos Sastre's 2008 crown.