Cadel Evans (BMC) fought hard to save his 2nd place on the final mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia but ultimately finished 14th to move down into 3rd. What nobody knew was that a technical problem hampered the Australian who is convinced that it cost him the runner-up spot.

Many people may have wondered what happened to Cadel Evans on the final climb up Tre Cime Di Lavaredo in today's mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia. The Australian was about to claw his way back up to his nearest challenger in the GC Rigoberto Uran (Sky) who had escaped with Carlos Betancur (Ag2r) in pursuit of the lone leader Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) but suddenly he apparently faded dramatically and was passed by numerous riders.

He passed the line in a modest 14th position and conceded 1.11 to move from 2nd to 3rd in GC. However, the reason for his sudden loss of pace was not his own lack of physical power. Instead, he was hampered by a technical problem.

"I had a technical problem at two kilometers to go all the way to the finish and that cost me second place," he explained.

The Australian tried to fix the unspecified problem but according to BMC general manager Jim Ochowicz another cold day in Italy made it impossible.

 "He tried to resolve the technical issue, but the severe weather and the nature of the problem prevented him from doing so and it cost him valuable time," he said.

Despite the lost 2nd place, Evans' Giro d'Italia can still be regarded as a huge success. His decision to line up at the first grand tour of the year was only taken in late March and despite his limited preparation he managed to take a surprising podium place while always keeping focus on his main goal which remains the Tour de France. He only needs to finish the largely ceremonial stage to Brescia to finish off an impressive performance by stepping onto the podium.

Nonetheless, sports director Fabio Baldato was disappointed to lose the runner-up position on a day where Evans actually felt rather good.

"All day, Cadel had good legs," he said. "For sure, second was better than third. But we are still on the podium and tomorrow we need to control to make the race safe and then the goal is reached."

Evans will have an easy day in the peloton tomorrow while the team will probably try to launch Adam Blythe in the expected bunch sprint. Starting at 14.15 you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.