Lancaster vows not to bomb on Evans Flat out: The peloton cruises through the countryside on the 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia from Caravaggio to Vicenza on Wednesday. Vicenza: For the Australian Orica-GreenEDGE team, the pursuit for a breakthrough stage win in the Giro d'Italia has been frustrating, especially with their star sprinter Matt Goss having to quit the 3455 kilometre race on stage 16 due to illness. But for one of their Australian teammates, Brett Lancaster, the Giro, which ends on Sunday in Brescia, has been no less inspiring with the three-week race of 21 stages giving him a rare chance to observe close-up the fight by Australian Cadel Evans (BMC) to try to win the race overall. Lancaster might be three years younger than Evans, who at 36 will become the oldest Giro champion should he add the title to his 2011 Tour de France. But the former track pursuiter has ridden right through the period of change in Australian cycling that has led to Australia's first division team in Orica-GreenEDGE starting, and Evans' transition from mountain bike World Cup champion, to world road champion and Tour winner. After a disappointing title defence last year, Evans has shown at the Giro that his grand tour days are far from over. I've always been a massive fan of Cadel. He is just a hard bloke, grinds away," Lancaster told Fairfax Media on the eve of Thursday's stage 18, a 20.6km mountain time trial from Mori to Polsa after which come two huge stages in the Alps on Friday and Saturday that will decide the overall winner. As long as Lancaster can stay with the overall contenders in stages 19 and 20 that will leave Sunday's finale into Brescia as the last real chance for sprinters' teams like Orica-GreenEDGE to bag a win, he will have a box seat as the battle unfolds. The key protagonists in that race for the prestigious leader's pink jersey - or maglia rosa - by Thursday were still Evans, Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), who leads the race overall after Wednesday's 17th stage from Caravaggio to Vicenza - won by Italian Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) - and Columbian Rigoberto Uran (Sky) and Italian Michele Scarponi (Lampre). "I think he can hold on to that second place, but if Nibali cracks [on Friday or Saturday] I hope that Cadel can take advantage of that," Lancaster said of Evans who was still one minute, 26 seconds down on Nibali after Wednesday. We have these two mega days [after] the time trial, and Cadel showed how fast he is climbing in that last part of the time trial [on stage 8 when he was quickest over the last 3.3km to the finish]. Don't expect that just because Evans is Australian, that Lancaster and Orica-GreenEDGE will help him become the first Australian Giro winner; not that they will stop him either. If we are in a crosswind or something, we are never going to blow him out the back. He is still opposition, but he is another Aussie," Lancaster said. But saying that, I wouldn't chop the guts out of Nibali if he was in a little break in the crosswinds either. If you have respect, you have respect for any 'GC' [general classification] rider. But Cadel is a great guy. I would never burn him.