Adam Yates – who fell to third overall but strengthened his Tour de France general classification position today in Provence – says that he is fighting to maintain his position instead of going for stage wins as originally stated.
The 23-year-old Brit with team Orica-BikeExchange has been the revelation of this year's Tour. He nearly took the yellow jersey on two occasions in the first 12 stages and sat only 28 seconds behind Froome this morning before the 37.5-kilometre time trial to La Caverne Du Pont-d'Arc.
Yates caught his breath metres after crossing the finish line in the white jersey of best young rider. After the silent podium as a mark of respect for the Nice attack victims, he met with the press.
>>> Tour de France 2016: Latest news, reports and info
"I did lose a bit of time today," Yates said. "The position we are in now, we just have to keep fighting. We have one week go to and in every stage, where there's an opportunity, I'll just try to take some seconds back. Hopefully everything goes OK."
Yates placed 18th at 3-01 minutes behind winner Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), 1-58 behind Froome and 1-07 behind Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), now in third overall. However, he rode seven seconds into top favourite Nairo Quintana (Movistar), twice second overall in the Tour behind Froome.
Yates began his second Tour saying that he would fight for stage wins and that maintaining his time in the classification would not be important. He held to that through the first week, but now indicates that the podium race is more important.
Froome solidified his lead and moved to 1-47 minutes ahead of Mollema and 2-45 minutes ahead of Yates. Yates has 14 seconds on Quintana and 32 on Quintana's Movistar team-mate Alejandro Valverde. He also has a strong grip on the white jersey, leading by 3-03 over Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida).
>>> Five talking points from Tour de France stage 13
"Anything can happen, we have a week to go. You can have a bad day and lose minutes," Yates added. "If it works it works, if not, no pressure or stress. Every day we are learning."
The Australian WorldTour team wants to re-sign Yates and take him, and twin brother Simon, to win grand tours in the coming years. Yates made a big step forward to that dream given the above average time trial he rode today on the lumpy and windy parcours.
"Everyone knows I'm not great at time trialling, I lost some time, but considering how small I am and how good I am at time trialling, I'm happy," Yates added.
Watch: Tour de France stage 13 highlights
"It was probably one of the longest TTs I've done. On the climbing sections, I felt strong. I felt I had the power. It was just the cross-wind seconds and the flat with the windy roads that I suffered quite a lot.
"It's hard to say, I guess it's a new experience for me. I'm learning and learning every day. I've never been in this position before."
Yates’s bother Simon is racing the Tour of Poland after forced to sit out the Tour due to a ban for taking an asthma medication without permission. Yates said that almost every night he checks in with Simon, who encourages Adam to push his rivals like Froome harder.
-
-
Tweets of the Week: Richard Carapaz's favourite ice cream, the 1980s Olympic team and more
Here's a collection of our favourite posts from the last week
By Alex Ballinger •
-
New Raleigh Stride E-Cargo range is ‘the future of urban transport’
Two powerful new e-cargo bikes are aimed at replaced short car and van journeys
By Simon Smythe •
-
Tour de France: Simon Yates escapes serious injury after stage 13 crash
The British rider came down heavily in a large crash and wasn't able to continue
By Tim Bonville-Ginn •
-
Adam Yates won't die trying for a Tour de France stage win, as podium chances increase
The Brit rose to fifth overall after the Grand Colombier stage, and expects fireworks in the third and final week of the Tour
By Jonny Long •
-
Tour de France 2020: Adam Yates only rider brave enough to attack Jumbo-Visma as he moves up to fifth overall
With Egan Bernal and Nairo Quintana cracking on the Grand Colombier, the Brit moves back up the overall classification
By Jonny Long •
-
Adam Yates 'had some kind of parasite' just before the Tour de France 2020
The British rider's first race since lockdown was the Critérium du Dauphiné, just a couple of weeks before the Tour de France
By Tim Bonville-Ginn •
-
'It was fun while it lasted': Adam Yates goes down fighting as he relinquishes Tour de France yellow jersey
The Brit will now return to his primary objective at the Tour - hunting down stage victories
By Jonny Long •
-
Five talking points from stage eight of the Tour de France 2020
Heartbreak for Thibaut Pinot and Adam Yates fights hard - don't miss these moments from an exciting day
By Stephen Puddicombe •
-
Adam Yates clings to Tour de France 2020 yellow jersey after mesmerising stage eight
Adam Yates was relentless in his defence of the yellow jersey on stage eight of the Tour de France 2020, after a breathless day of mountain racing.
By Alex Ballinger •
-
'A dream is the wrong word': Adam Yates on his day in yellow jersey at Tour de France 2020
The Brit still seems uncomfortable with the manner in which he took the jersey from Julian Alaphilippe
By Jonny Long •
