Australia's first Tour de France winner, who raced for two decades all around the world, believes the city is too difficult and high-risk to cycle in.

"I'm not intimidated to ride in many places but Sydney is one of them," he said.

While the narrowness of streets, volume of traffic, poor cycling infrastructure and distance from the CBD to good riding areas were factors, Evans said there was just too little respect on the roads.

"This could apply to many places in Australia but in Sydney the traffic is concentrated because the population is concentrated [so] that lack of respect and sometimes aggression is concentrated," he said.

The former champion cyclist, who still rides most days for love of the sport, said he was far from being anti-car. He described himself as "a car guy" who has a V8 SS Commodore as well as classic and sports cars.

"I'm not accusing drivers," he said. "I'm saying road users in general so it's bikes getting angry at cars, cars getting angry at bikes, trucks getting angry at cars and vice versa.  A little bit of respect would go a long way."

For Evans, riding in cities that are not cycling friendly can be more confronting than racing.

"The most scary experience as a bike rider I've had in my career, including descending at 120kmh in a race in a group of 200 riders, is a truck or a car towing a caravan or a trailer which is wider than the car itself skimming your elbow or your leg or your shoe," he said. "You can die doing that."

Evans, who has been launching his book The Art of Cycling, is a fan of what Lord Mayor Clover Moore has done to make Sydney more cyclist friendly, including more bike paths.

"The mayor is doing a fantastic job," he said. "She's doing what's possible but she has a lot of obstacles.

"No.1 in Sydney unfortunately is you have a very large city ... that has very narrow streets. So the basic infrastructure is difficult.

"And poor Clover Moore has all these people that seem to be holding up the good things that she wants to change and voicing her opinion and trying to educate the public what's best for the short, medium and long term infrastructure in Sydney."

As a result, Sydney was one of the few places in the world, alongside Taipei, that Evans will not ride in.

"Riding in the National Park or Akuna Bay is beautiful but, of course, to get there from the CBD is not easy," he said.

Needing to train before his final race last year, Evans decided it was simpler to head home to Barwon Heads in Victoria than go for a ride in Sydney.

"It was easier for me to catch a plane back to Melbourne then drive home and ride there, rather than drive in the traffic down to the Royal National Park to find a [hill] climb to train properly then drive back," he said. "That made me 'Think this is ridiculous' ...

"I can't run out the door in Sydney which is what makes cycling so nice in most places in the world."

Evans said the city needed better cycling infrastructure.

"You have a bike path across the Bridge but it's got a staircase at the end of it, for example," he said. "That doesn't seem very well thought out."

Partly because of its wider roads, Melbourne was more rider friendly.

"Melbourne people are a little bit more respectful on the roads," Evans said. "Whether that's because we have more space or because we have more bike riders and people are more used to it, I'm not exactly sure."

While Evans is an advocate for cycling, he sometimes wonders about that advice when it comes to Sydney.

"I encourage people to ride for the health benefits or for one car less on the road but because of this problem, I don't want to encourage someone to ride and then they go out and get hit by a car," he said.

But there are ways to make the city more cyclist friendly.

"Short term is attitude and better education to get a licence," Evans said. "In the medium to longer term, you look at infrastructure and then, of course, better public transport facilities ...

"Compared to some countries in the world, it's easier to get a licence in Australia, which makes me wonder 'is it too easy?'

"Countries like Italy have really narrow roads but they're used to cyclists. A lot of people ride there.

"They're not necessarily cyclists but they ride a bike to church or the shops or whatever. They see it from the rider's angle so they just have respect and understanding. That doesn't cost money. That's not widening roads and moving buildings. That's just a change in mentality."