Yates Takes Alps Tour Lead After Stage Win
LONDON (Dispatches) - Britain’s Simon Yates has taken the overall lead of the Tour of the Alps following an impressive victory on stage two.
Yates, 28, of Team Bike Exchange, left behind his rivals after launching a devastating attack with 24km remaining.
He now leads Ineos Grenadiers’ Pavel Sivakov in the general classification by 41 seconds.
"They weren’t easy to get rid of - it was a very tough climb,” said Yates.
"It really took it out of me on the valley road to the finish. I enjoy these stages - we race from the start rather than messing around for 150km.”
Yates even gained 15 seconds on his lead on the descent from the category one climb where he made his break for the win, before finding more time in the final few kilometers.
The Mancunian rider has struggled for form in recent races, but appears to be coming good before his bid to win the Giro d’Italia, which starts on 8 May.
Yates, 28, of Team Bike Exchange, left behind his rivals after launching a devastating attack with 24km remaining.
He now leads Ineos Grenadiers’ Pavel Sivakov in the general classification by 41 seconds.
"They weren’t easy to get rid of - it was a very tough climb,” said Yates.
"It really took it out of me on the valley road to the finish. I enjoy these stages - we race from the start rather than messing around for 150km.”
Yates even gained 15 seconds on his lead on the descent from the category one climb where he made his break for the win, before finding more time in the final few kilometers.
The Mancunian rider has struggled for form in recent races, but appears to be coming good before his bid to win the Giro d’Italia, which starts on 8 May.