YATES ROMPS HOME AS INEOS REIGN IN SPAIN

BRITISH rider Adam Yates recorded the biggest win of his career yesterday in the Volta a Catalunya. Bury-born Yates took the general classification victory in a one-two-three for Team Ineos. Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas completed the podium in Spain. ‘It was a perfect team performance,’ said Yates (below). ‘It’s a really special day today. ‘We came here with big ambitions, but getting the top three is way beyond our expectations.’ Fellow Lancastrian Hugh Carthy finished eighth, 1min 20sec behind, with Yates’s twin Simon 1min 32sec off the lead. Yates took the lead in Wednesday’s third stage, after a tough climb on the Vallter 2000. He completed the time trial and did well on the climb of Port Aine in the fourth stage. He kept a commanding lead going into the final day, which finished in Montjuic Park in Barcelona, with Thomas de Gendt of Lotto Soudal winning the final stage. But the only serious threat to his quest for the green-and-white jersey was from his own team-mates. It is his first GC win for Ineos having joined this winter. Welshman Thomas, who will look to emulate his 2018 Tour de France win this summer, said: ‘It was good to be back on a podium. To be honest, it was never really a goal at the start of the year to be going quite so well so early.’ Chris Froome, riding for new team Israel Start-Up Nation, had a horror week, ending 53 minutes off the lead.