Crash dashes Yates’ hopes of stage victory

JOHN TREVORROW SAYS:

MITCHELTON-SCOTT has again been denied a Tour de France stage win in the cruellest way, with Adam Yates crashing in the closing kilometres while leading the race.

Yates surged clear on the last climb of the 218km Stage 16 — the Col du Portillon — and was 22 seconds clear of Julian Alaphilippe with 10km remaining.

But the Australian team’s luckless Tour campaign hit a

“We recon all the stages, but you never know what’s coming up. It was a bit damp or something, and I just came down. That’s all there is to it.

“My morale is pretty damaged right now. When you come so close to winning a stage of the Tour de France it’s pretty devastating, not just for me, but for my team.”

It was a bitter pill for rider and team to swallow after Yates’ title hopes were unexpectedly shattered when he was dropped on Stage 11. That was also the same day teammate Mikel Nieve was over- taken by Geraint Thomas within sight of the finish line.

Mitchelton-Scott sports director Matt White said Yates was gutted but was quick to say the team would fight on.

“When you’ve got Alaphilippe, one of the world’s best descenders, coming up fast, there was a lot of pressure on Adam to rail that descent and to take some risks,” White said.

“Adam is pretty disappointed. It’s a stage win at the Tour de France, and he’s just missed it. The race is not finished. It was one opportunity today and we’ll go again.”