YATES TIGHTENS GRIP ON GIRO AS FROOME FALLS AWAY

BRITAIN’S Simon Yates piled the pressure on his Giro d’Italia rivals yesterday with a stunning late attack to win his second stage in four days and extend his overall lead to 47 seconds. The Mitchelton-Scott rider took the field by surprise with around a mile to go and held off defending champion Tom Dumoulin to take a giant stride towards his maiden grand tour win. Sky’s Chris Froome was one of many riders who could not keep up with Yates, dropping off the pace during the final ascent to finish 40 seconds behind the stage winner. Yates, who is only the second Briton after sprinter Mark Cavendish to win multiple stages in the same Giro, said: ‘I’m trying to get more time. I already have a good gap to Froome and I’m happy that I got more time on Tom. But I still don’t have enough.’ While Yates (below) retains the pink jersey for the general classification leader, Froome’s Giro — his first since 2010 — remains a disappointment. The four-time Tour de France winner is now 23rd overall and a huge 3min 20sec off the lead. Froome revealed he was still feeling the effects of a crash before the race began, saying: ‘It took a whack out of me and if you’re not at your absolute best there’s nowhere to hide. ’