2011 Tour winner, Cadel Evans (BMC), confessed he is not in peak condition and has moved into "training mode" at Tirreno-Adriatico after falling to almost nine minutes behind on GC following a nightmarish day on Sunday's fifth stage.

36-year-old Evans finished 7’ 44” down on stage winner Rodriguez (Katusha) and as a consequence he opted to switch priority from finishing high on the GC to improving his condition for races later in the season.

"To be competitive on GC is beyond my capabilities right now," the Australian told Herald Sun. "Racing is always the best training, but not necessarily racing at the front every day. Today [Sunday] I had to make a decision on that, which of course is not where I'm used to being and not the ideal place to be in, but I have to stay calm and look at the situation as it is and work towards the upcoming races.”

On the team website Evans elaborated on his lack of peak form, "I came here a long way from the level of the best guys here," Evans said. "So to be competitive on GC is beyond my capabilities right now. So my mentality has to adapt to that.”

On Monday’s stage Evans was able to redeem himself to some degree finishing in the same group as Chris Froome on a stage littered with almost bone crashing challenges. Evans is currently 22nd more than 9 minutes after race leader Nibali.