Yates eyeing Criterium du Dauphine after impressing at Tour de Yorkshire
BySportsbeat
Published 01/05/2016 at 20:46 GMT
Adam Yates is looking ahead to the Criterium du Dauphine after capping a successful spring for ORICA-GreenEDGE by finishing as the top British rider at the Tour de Yorkshire.
Adam Yates wins Clasica de San Sebastian
Image credit: Imago
The Bury rider finished third on Sunday’s final stage from Middlesbrough to Scarborough, a 198km route over the North York Moors including six categorised climbs.
Yates could not quite keep pace with Nicolas Roche and Thomas Voeckler when they jumped away during the run-in to Scarborough and the latter out-sprinted the Team Sky rider to claim the stage and the overall victory.
Yates finished fourth in the overall standings and declared himself happy with the result.
“The guys were attacking and I was holding on - I didn’t really have the punch or the kick to accelerate myself so that is how it goes really - sometimes there are guys stronger that you and there is nothing you can do about it,” said Yates.
“It is pretty awesome to be top Brit and finish third on the day, towards the end I was suffering quite a bit.
“But the team rode awesome all week, the whole three days, so we can be happy with that and we will take that confidence into the second half of the season.”
Voeckler drew on the experience of finishing in the inaugural edition of the race last year and pounced to take advantage of a lapse in concentration from Irishman Roche in the 500 metres.
The win was Voeckler’s second in Direct Energie colours this season and the popular Frenchman had only praise for the Tour de Yorkshire.
“It was a pretty hard day, pretty hard roads and hard climbs,” said the veteran.
“There were many strong teams. Me and my teammates were a little bit outsiders but after I finished second last year I knew I had to wait until the final kilometres to attack. It really helped me for the finish.
“Yorkshire is amazing with the crowds on the road. After the Tour de France it is the race where I see the most people all over the road and it is pretty pleasant to ride with all those people.”
Team Sky’s Luke Rowe finished 24th on the stage and 26th overall after setting a fierce tempo up the climbs of the Moors.
His teammate, Manxman Peter Kennaugh, worked with Rowe to distance rivals over the climbs but could not get rid of Voeckler.
However, Kennaugh was pleased with the team’s overall race, saying: “Tommy Voeckler was really strong today, as well as Nico, they matched each other and you’re not going to be able to just ride people off your wheel.
“There are some really good bike riders out there but we were still happy with the result, it was a good team performance.”
Australian Nathan Haas won the King of the Mountains jersey with Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen maintaining his grasp on the Yorkshire Bank sprinters jersey that he claimed after winning Friday’s first stage from Beverley to Settle.
© Sportsbeat 2015
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