Yates happy despite being pipped to yellow

BRITAIN’S Adam Yates was edged out in a three-man sprint as France’s Julian Alaphilippe won stage two of the Tour de France to take the yellow jersey.

Mitchelton-scott rider Yates caught a two-man breakaway of Alaphilippe and Switzerland’s Marc Hirschi on the final climb with 10km to go in Nice and the trio worked as a team to hold off the peloton.

They were almost caught as they played cat and mouse with the finish line beckoning, but Deceuninck-quick-step rider Alaphilippe’s final burst saw him pip Hirschi (Sunweb), with Yates crossing one second behind.

Alaphilippe took the yellow

Pure delight: Julian Alaphilippe celebrates crossing the line

jersey from stage one winner Alexander Kristoff and Yates moved up to second in the general classification, four seconds behind.

Yates, bidding to become the ninth Briton to wear the overall leader’s yellow jersey in the Tour, made his break to catch the leading pair on the final ascent with 11km to go.

“I jumped across to Alaphilippe and Hirschi and then we started working,” he said. “It wasn’t super easy. In the end I was never going to win the sprint, those two are both faster than me, but it’s been a good stage two and I’m pretty happy.

“Maybe if I’d had another climb or something, but like I said, in a sprint with those two, in this kind of finish, I was always going to end up second or third, but it’s been a good day.”

Alaphilippe, who sealed his fifth Tour de France stage win in a time of four hours, 55 minutes and 27 seconds, leads the general classification in a time of 8:41.35, four seconds ahead of Yates, with Hirschi a further three seconds back.