Cadel Evans concedes BMC team is unrealistic chance of toppling Gerrans, Orica-GreenEDGE

CADEL Evans concedes it is unrealistic for his BMC team to topple race leader Simon Gerrans backed by a designed Orica-GreenEDGE team.

CADEL Evans concedes it is unrealistic for his BMC team to topple race leader Simon Gerrans backed by an Orica-GreenEDGE team specifically put together to win the Tour Down Under which finishes on Sunday.

Evans' seven-second lead became a one-second deficit when he finished sixth and Gerrans was third up Old Willunga Hill on Saturday.

While admitting his team in Adelaide was more suited to the three-week Giro d'Italia in May, the 36-year-old did not hide his disappointment at missing out on a maiden TDU title.

News_Image_File: Simon Gerrans stands on the podium after regaining the Ochre jersey from Cadel Evans. Picture: Sarah Reed..

"When you have an opportunity to win a big race, you want to win it ... and coming into the final two days with the lead was a very realistic opportunity," he said.

"Most of all my goal for this year was to start off well and get back somewhere near my best level.

"And with that in mind I come away from the race very satisfied (but) considering my competitive ambition, when it's possible to win and you don't it's a little bit disappointing."

Evans said yesterday's Stage 5 mostly went as expected, but his team was caught off-guard by the pressure applied by Orica-GreenEDGE.

"In the end Orica rode fantastically and raced for every second here all week," he said.

News_Rich_Media: There's plenty of cycling royalty in Adelaide this week for the Tour Down Under. While Cadel Evans and Simon Gerrans are competing in Stage five today, Olympic sprint Queen Anna Meares is more than a casual observer.

"We have gone against a team specifically targeting and designed for this race.

"We came here with a Giro team, not a specific Tour Down Under team, so some days you just have to accept if you get beaten by a better rider or better team, that's the way the sport goes."

Evavns acknowledged the race was not officially over, but he would be unable to pick up bonus time in Stage 6 today.

"The race isn't over, that's true, but we're going against a team that's specifically designed for this race and we don't have a pure sprinter here," he said.

"And it may come down to the intermediate seconds and the difference between first and second and maybe even third on GC could come down to the intermediate seconds.

"So if you don't come here with a lead-out team, that becomes quite difficult to achieve."