Mechanical problems cost Evans dear at the Giro d'Italia

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Cadel Evans (BMC) was cold, covered in snow and understandably angry after finishing 14th at Tre Cime di Lavaredo and losing second place overall in the Giro d'Italia to Rigoberto Uran (Team Sky).

Evans suffered a mechanical problem in the final part of the climb to the finish, losing 1:11 to Uran and so slipped to third overall, 5:52 behind Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and 1:09 down on Uran.

Evans was livid when he stopped at the BMC minivan, just past the finish area, pushing away team staff to look at his gears and bike. His sprockets were covered in slushy snow and so perhaps stopped him from using his preferred gear.

He did not speak to the media waiting in the snow, switching to a more comfortable BMC Mercedes team car for the evacuation down the climb to the team buses.

Later the BMC team issued a press release confirming the mechanical problem that had cost Evans second place overall.

"I had a technical problem at two kilometers to go all the way to the finish and that cost me second place," is all Evans is quoted as saying.

BMC team manager Jim Ochowicz and directeur sportif Fabio Baldato were also forced to admit the problem had cost the team dear.

"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," Ochowicz said.

Baldato tried to be more upbeat: "All day, Cadel had good legs. 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."