Giro d'Italia: 'Yates Watch' continues as the Briton climbs on GC

Although Adam Yates’s General Classification hopes were dealt a disastrous blow after a freak incident with a parked motorbike on Stage 9, the 24-year-old Briton has shown true grit in battling back from 16th overall to now just 40 seconds off the top 10 with one week to go in the 100th Giro d’Italia.

While Welshman Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) was forced to eventually retire from the race due to injuries suffered during the moto sideswipe, Yates has bravely rebounded and demonstrated ‘a bit of mongrel’ that his Aussie WorldTour team is widely known to possess. For the second stage in a row Yates has ridden himself into an elite selection with a mountain stage finish in sight.

After earning a sixth-place finish on Saturday, Yates recorded a spectacular fourth-place result among 12 GC favourites on stage 15 just 24 hours later. Yates found himself in the upper third in the final sprint behind Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and winner Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) of Luxembourg.

“I didn’t quite have it in the sprint,” Yates explained at the finish. “I felt good in the finale but Jungels is a good 10kg heavier than me and I couldn’t match his power.

Immediately after the finish on Sunday, last year’s best young rider at the Tour de France was quick to credit his team-mates Caleb Ewan, Alex Edmondson, Luka Mezgec, Carlos Verona and Rubén Plaza for making strategic moves to keep Yates in a position to vie for a result.

“The team were great again today,” said Yates. “We sat back and waited for the break to form and that took almost 100km. Then we committed to the stage and the boys really laid it down.

“All-in-all, another good day. We will enjoy the rest day tomorrow and get set for a big final week.”

With no true sprint stages remaining, Ewan, , abandoned the Giro to turn his attention toward his next goals for the season. While fellow Aussie Edmondson suffered from a heavy crash after collecting bottles and will be assessed on the rest day according to the team report.

Following the Giro’s final rest day, the third and final week will resume on Tuesday as the Italian Grand Tour stays in the mountains with the 222km Stage 16 from Rovett to Bormio.

1. Bob JUNGELS, LUX, QUICK-STEP FLOORS, 4:16:51

2. Nairo Quintana, COL, MOVISTAR, s.t.

3. Thibaut Pinot FRA, FDJ, s.t.

4. Adam Yates, GBR, Orica-Scott, s.t

1 (1). Tom Dumoulin, NED, Sunweb, 63:48:08

2 (2). Nairo Quintana, COL, Movistar, +2:41

3 (4). Thibaut Pinot, FRA, FDJ, +3:21

4 (5). Vincenzo Nibali, ITA, Bahrain-Merida, +3:40

11 (13). Adam Yates, GBR, Orica-Scott, +7:43

90 (94). Adam Hansen, AUS, Lotto Soudal, +1:43:17

129 (122). Michael Hepburn, AUS, Orica-Scott, +2:11:08

149 (159). Rory Sutherland, AUS, Movistar, +2:22:25

161 (161). Alex Edmondson, AUS, Orica-Scott, +2:32:20

DNF — Caleb Ewan, AUS, Orica-Scott (Stage 15)

DNF — Nathan Haas, AUS, Dimension Data (Stage 11)

DNF — Rohan Dennis, AUS, BMC Racing (Stage 4)