Barolo, Italy
Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing Team finished third in Thursday’s individual time trial at the Giro d’Italia and slid to second overall behind stage winner Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).
Evans: ‘Had Hoped To Have Done Better’
After leading the race for four days, Evans finished 1:34 off Uran’s winning time of 57:34 and 17 seconds behind runner-up Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) in the 41.9-kilometer race against the clock. “As I told you a few days ago, I saw Uran coming into form, but I honestly did not expect him to have such an amazing time trial,” Evans said. “Of course, I had hoped to have done better myself. The time trial course suited me well, but as I said yesterday, the verdict is on the road.” In the overall standings, Evans is 37 seconds back, with Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) in third at 1:52. No other riders are within 2:30 of Uran with nine stages remaining. “My position is good tactically,” Evans said. “I think it is going to be interesting.”
Baldato: ‘Satisfied With His Performance’
Evans used all of the road – and more – along the undulating course that was still wet in places from earlier rain showers. On the final descent, Evans had to hop his BMC timemachine TM01 back onto the pavement after going wide on a curve. “Cadel went on the limit in the final part because he was behind at that point,” BMC Racing Team Sport Director Fabio Baldato said. “I am satisfied with his performance because we gained time on several adversaries. It was only Uran who did a really strong time trial. Congratulations to him. The Giro is long and we are still in the race, too.” BMC Racing Team’s Steve Morabito finished 27th on the day and slipped from fifth to ninth overall.
