Yates kept to the team's script regardless, following on the heels of Mitchelton-Scott's work for a solo push up into the walled city known for late cyclist Michele Scarponi.
"Extra grit from Simon's loss? It's not like you are going to gain 50 watts from it," said an always direct and word thrifty Yates.
The team in France could not control a move with Marc Soler (Movistar), who sat 37 seconds behind Simon Yates at the start of the day. Soler gained time and bonuses from finishing third, enough to take the yellow top from Yates by four seconds.
Simon Yates crosses the line on the final stage of the 2018 Paris-Nice (JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images)
(Image credit: AFP/Getty Images)
Simon Yates had finished ninth and seventh before, going this year to make sure he could win the stage race run by Tour de France organiser ASO.
"He's been trying to win Paris-Nice for a few years," Adam Yates continued. "At least he got the stage win yesterday. He's got a few more years to do it."
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Asked if it helped him in his attack knowing of his twin brother's near miss, he said, "It's great when he wins, and he likes it when I do. It doesn't change what we do here because he's obviously been in good condition."
https://youtu.be/vLyA9hvrUZo
Team Movistar then Mitchelton pushed the pace nearing the final run up to Scarponi's town. Adam Yates found his own space one day after Simon with four kilometres left, shortly after Chris Froome (Sky) suffered a front wheel puncture.
"It's always nice when he wins and it's always nice when I win," he said, "but you just got to do it on your own on the day."
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) tried to bridge, but could not manage and Yates won with seven seconds. The others behind began to also look at each other for the overall classification. Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) trailed by just one second and made it up by taking the bonus seconds for third place behind Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).
"I was feeling pretty good the other day on the steep climb, so obviously I have good legs," Yates added. "You just got to get out there and do what you can.
"If I just wait in the bunch, I'm not going to get it in the sprint. The guys put me in position at the front and all I had to do was attack, and it all fell into place."
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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.
