Yates shows in Israel he has what is needed to take Froome’s crown

AS Simon Yates was only too happy to concede, he has been riding in the shadow of Chris Froome for some time. ‘He’s won the Tour de France four times and I’ve won **** all,’ he said yesterday.

But in Israel he was quicker than Froome in the opening time trial of the Giro d’Italia and Britain might just have another Grand Tour winner on their books.

Yates and his twin brother Adam were already recognised as two of the most talented climbers in the professional peloton but Simon’s seventh place in Friday’s stage was arguably the stand-out performance of the first two days of the Giro.

It has people thinking that, at 25, he has come of age.

Yesterday, after rolling into Tel Aviv in the main bunch at the end of a 167km stage that was won by Elia Viviani, Yates sounded confident.

‘I always think I’m a contender,’ he said. ‘But I feel really good. I had a really good training camp before this and when you feel good you’re confident. I feel like I can challenge the best guys, so we’ll just see how it goes.’

The diminutive Yates still thinks he is at a disadvantage on the longer, flatter time trial stages. But he says his background as a track rider, and the extra work he has been doing on his TT bike, did pay off on the bumpy 9.7km course around Jerusalem on Friday.

He said. ‘It was a course that actually suited me and I took a few risks on a few corners. Maybe that also helped.’

Meanwhile, Germany’s Max Walscheid won the final sprint to claim victory in stage three of the Tour de Yorkshire from Richmond to Scarborough.