Gruelling climb puts Yates up with the best
The young British rider held his own against world class opposition on the summit finish of stage five at Tirreno-Adriatico
Adam Yates blasted through the snow and attacked the best in the sport to arrive seventh on Monte Terminillo in Italy's Tirreno-Adriatico stage race today.
The 22-year-old Brit only lost sight of stage winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing), but held his own on the 16.1 kilometre uphill finish with cycling's top grand tour rider, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo). He attacked and he marked attacks to finish seventh on the stage at 55 seconds.
"It's big for me," Yates said on the steps of the Orica-GreenEdge bus, protected from the falling snow and freezing temperatures. "I showed that I can stay up there with some of the best climbers in the world today."
His small group of six also included Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha), Rigoberto Urán (Etixx-Quick Step), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale). All but Pozzovivo have stood on the steps of a grand tour podium.
"Right now my legs are sore," he added, "but it was a pretty good performance."
Yates showered and changed before opening the door to the Orica bus to speak to Cycling Weekly. The snow kept falling outside, but he laughed it off. Across the icy car park, 2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) would not speak to press after losing 2-16 to Quintana and slightly less to Yates’ group.
"Obviously, Quintana knocked the f**k out of us," Yates said. "He was going quickly, no one really reacted. He was clearly the strongest in the race."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Nairo Quintana lays early season marker with Tirreno-Adriatico stage win
The Colombian attacked on the summit finish, with no one able to go with him
Quintana shot clear of a thinning group under five kilometres to race to the ski lodge. Nibali began to lose ground. Yates kept touch with Contador and the others, and even attacked himself with 2.2 kilometres remaining.
"When these guys start going, you just have to follow or if you don't have good legs, just go at your own tempo. I was feeling pretty good up until the last two or three kilometres, then I started feeling it a bit,” continued Yates.
"When Mollema went free, I tried going across to him, but there was a big headwind on the climb. I tried, but I just finished in the group because I was pretty dead."
Seventh place on the stage and sixth place in the overall at 1-04, is not a win but it counts for something considering Yates is only in his second year and is so young.
The result confirms his first year in 2014, which included a similar high ride of sixth place in the Critérium du Dauphiné against Sky's Chris Froome, Contador, Nibali and overall winner Andrew Talansky.
He looked out at the snow and cursed. Had the organiser not cancelled the stage one team time trial due to high winds and downed trees in the days leading up to the race, he believes he would have been higher up in the overall standings.
"This snow is nothing, but they were blaming the wind and fallen trees, yet they had two days to clear it up. I'm a bit bitter,” Yates added.
“We got a bit flicked because we could've been 30 seconds up on some of the other teams that don't have a strong time trial. If the race organiser think that's OK, then so be it."
The race continues with a flat stage tomorrow and ends with a 10.05 kilometre time trial on Italy's east coast in San Benedetto del Tronto on Tuesday. Yates is afraid that he will lose 40 seconds and slip out of the top 10.
"I'm trying to work on my time trial, but some of these guys go pretty quickly," Yates said. "I do what I can, if that's good enough for a top 10, I'll be happy, if not..."
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
Chinese X-Lab vies for global domination as it equips XDS Astana with bikes for the WorldTour
A new partnership sees Astana aboard new bikes with increased funding for 2025
By Joe Baker Published
-
Tech of the week: Van Rysel releases an aero bike (quelle surprise!) plus a superlight carbon crankset from FSA, a long top tube bag from Tailfin and tyre liners from Zefal
The RCR-F aero bike will be ridden by the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team in 2025, but will it create headlines like the RCR?
By Luke Friend Published
-
Another year, another annoying choice between Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico
The two premier stage races clashing is a continued bane for all fans of cycling, and points to a bloated sport
By Adam Becket Published
-
Warren Barguil smashes competition on stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico with powerful climb
The Frenchman managed to hold onto victory after he kicked on the 21% gradient climb to steal a march on the breakaway
By Ryan Dabbs Published
-
Caleb Ewan steals stage three win at Tirreno-Adriatico on the finish line
The Australian wins his third race of the season with a powerful final sprint on the third stage of the Italian event
By Ryan Dabbs Published
-
Tim Merlier takes victory on stage two of Tirreno-Adriatico
The Alpecin-Fenix rider rode confidently to win the first bunch sprint of the race
By Ryan Dabbs Published
-
Adam Yates finishes Barcelona Marathon in under three hours
Yates posted an impressive time of 2:58:44 during this off-season activity
By Ryan Dabbs Published
-
Vuelta a España: Adam Yates says he’s struggled with jet lag after the Tokyo Olympics
The Brit tried to hit out on stage three after the disappointment of ‘silly crash’
By Alex Ballinger Published
-
Parkhotel Valkenburg announce they are skipping Strade Bianche and Trofeo Binda
Parkhotel Valkenburg have announced they will not be racing Strade Bianche or Trofeo Binda because of concerns over corona virus.
By Alex Ballinger Published
-
Home roads: Riding with the Yates brothers's first club
We head out for a spin with Bury Clarion, the club at which both Yates brothers first turned a crank in earnest, to trace the origins of our new Grand Tour stars
By Paul Knott Published