Evans slips as imperious Nibali seizes control POLSA, Italy: Cadel Evans has conceded victory in the Giro d'Italia is most probably beyond him after realising he does not have the form to challenge race leader Vincenzo Nibali in the next two mountain stages. Evans concession came after he lost more than two and half minutes to the Italian in Thursday's mountain time trial. However, the 36 year-old Australian and 2011 Tour de France champion is still second place overall - albeit he faces a battle to defend it with only 10 seconds separating him from third. He was hiding in the peloton these past days, so I didn't know his condition. I expected he would have gone better ... he was my rider of reference, so when I could see I was catching him, I pushed even harder. In the stage 18 time trial from Mori to Polsa, Evans slipped from being 1minute 26seconds down on Nibali (Astana) to 4mins 2secs. Slipping behind: Cadel Evans finished 25th in the individual mountain time trial. Evans now faces a mighty challenge to defend that position against Colombian Rigoberto Uran (Sky) who is third at 4mins 12 secs as the Giro returns to the Alps. Also lurking to challenge Evans or Uran for a podium place is Italian Michele Scarponi (Lampre) in fourth at 5mins 14secs. The expected tussle could also be impacted by the new route that organisers have put in place for Friday's 19th stage from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello, and may do so for Saturday's 20th stage from Silandro to Lavaredo in the Dolomite mountains worsening conditions that include a forecast of minus 14 degrees Celsius in the high passes. The forecast of snow have forced organisers to cut the famed Gavia (2618m) and Stelvio (2758m) climbs from stage 19. The new route, now 160km instead of 139km, will start and finish at the same locations, but will now include the Passo del Tonale and Passo Castrin before the mountain finish. Nibali is unlikely to falter now. On Thursday, he was imperious in winning the time trial under a downpour of rain, clocking a time of 44mins 22secs. Second was Spaniard Samuel Sanchez (Euksaltel-Euskadi) at 58secs, followed by Italian Damiano Caruso (Lampre), third at 1mins 20secs. Scarponi was in fourth at 1min 21secs, Poland's Rafal Majka (Saxo-Tinkoff) fifth at 1mins 25secs and Uran sixth 1min 26secs. Evans was 25th at 2mins 36secs. It was soon clear after Evans started on the twisting route that overlooked vineyards and had a steepest gradient of 10 per cent that he would not be challenging Nibali, a fact that surprised the Italian. "It was a stage that I thought he could do better [in]," Nibali said of Evans. My legs don't hurt. Over the past week, I've started to feel better and better. I was very calm this morning. When I woke up and did a course inspection, I knew I had good legs. The most important thing now is to defend the lead that I now have. Now we can breath a little easier. Evans was pragmatic about it. Going for the overall win had motivated him, but he reminded that he entered the Giro to find his best Tour form. He also sensed he was short of condition needed to win the Giro in stage 14 to Bardonecchia where he lost 33 seconds to Nibali. "I seemed to be lacking to the other guys," Evans said of that stage. That comes down to an ability to recover in the third week. Evans explained how he felt once he challenged for the overall victory, saying: "I [was] second and [it was like], 'Maybe I can win this.' But the reason I came to the Giro was to get back to my best for the Tour. Being second in terms of what I had to do to get onto the results board, it's been pretty close to everything I have got. Nibali ... is really in a class of his own. Maybe - more than maybe - he deserves to win the Giro. Evans said experiencing a grand tour victory slip him by was something he has learned to deal with. While he won the 2011 Tour, he was second in the race in 2007 and 2008, and fourth in 2006. In the Vuelta a Espana, he was also third in 2009 and fourth in 2007 "That's something you have to learn as a bike rider... it's something you have to learn to live with," Evans said. I came here to come back to my best ... to recover lost days of racing due this illness and so on last year. In that regard, it is not something that I should be kicking myself in the backside for. Watch stage 19 -160km from Ponte di Legno to Val Martello - live on Eurosport, CH 511 Foxtel from 8.30pm on Friday, and on SBS Two from 11.10pm Watch stage 20 - 203km from Salandro to Tres Cime di Lavaredo - live on Eurosport, Ch 511 Foxtel from 8.30pm on Saturday, and on SBS Two from 11pm