Yates ‘not worried’ as Froome attack cuts his lead in half
‘Tired’ Briton now only 28seconds ahead in Giro Rider confident about today’s ‘toughest’ stage
Laughing as he sat down in the post-stage press conference, being held in a small side room of a hotel in this Piedmont ski resort, Simon Yates tried his best to give off an air of calm.
“I was just a little bit tired,” he said, smiling. “I couldn’t respond to the final acceleration. And that’s OK. That’s OK …”
Is it? We are about to find out. An enthralling Giro d’italia took yet another twist yesterday as Yates – who had looked impregnable, winning three stages and generally honouring the maglia rosa with attacking displays day after day – cracked for the first time. Yates had his lead cut in half in one fell swoop, from 56 to 28 seconds. That is a small margin considering there are big mountains to come.
Ironically, it was an attack from his compatriot Chris Froome that cost him; Yates finding himself unable to respond when the Team Sky leader took off with less than two kilometres remaining of the final 14km climb to Prato Nevoso. As Tom Dumoulin and Domenico Pozzovivo, second and third in the general classification, bridged across to Froome (who remains fourth overall, 3min 22sec behind), Yates was distanced. Isolated. The shock waves could be felt from the top of the mountain.
He managed to dig in and limit his losses but the 25-year-old looked shell-shocked as he crossed the line on his own before he was whisked away by his Mitcheltonscott minders.
A few minutes later, he reemerged, looking confident again, telling Eurosport he “wasn’t worried” and that he expected to be much better today on what was “maybe the biggest day of this Giro”.
The Mitchelton-scott director, Matt White, insisted that yesterday’s final climb did not suit his man, adding that he was confident Yates would bounce back. “Today suited the power guys with a nice, steady climb,” White said. “If Froome and Dumoulin were going to put time into Simon, today was definitely the day. I don’t think anything changes at all. Tomorrow is probably the hardest day of the tour; very, very different, very long, with some long valleys in between.”
That was one way of describing a brutish-looking stage featuring four categorised climbs, including the Colle delle Finestre, the highest point in this race at 2178m – a climb which is unpaved at the top – as well as a summit finish in the ski station of Bardonecchia.
Yates said he was looking forward to it. “I am more confident about Friday and Saturday compared to today,” he insisted, adding that rumours that he was unwell were wide of the mark. “I feel really good. I was only bad for 1km today. I’m still in the lead. Froome is still a long way down.”
So, it was not the first chink in his armour, then? A first sign of weakness? “It’s a good question,” he replied. “I don’t know. I hope not. We’ll see.”