Tour de France 2019 news - Simon Yates 'proud' of stage win but says helping Adam remains priority

Yates joins Elia Viviani and Caleb Ewan in winning a stage at the 106th edition of the Tour, following earlier success at the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta.

The Mitchelton-Scott rider produced a tactically astute performance to beat Spaniard Pello Bilbao and Austria’s Gregor Muhlberger in Bagneres-de-Bigorre - but Yates knew the 209.5km stage from Toulouse represented his opportunity to take personal glory.

"I've been saving energy until we got here in the mountains," Yates told Eurosport. "This was my first chance to try something, as normally I've been back in the peloton, but today I had my own chance, so I've grabbed it with both hands.

"I made sure I did that and luckily I managed to hold on. I'm very proud, and hopefully there's a lot more to come.

Yates' fine run began to take shape with 38km remaining, ahead of the final climb of the day, as the Brit recognised that Nicolas Roche was the man to follow, and he managed to see off the battle to the line as Astana's Bilbao and Bora–Hansgrohe's Muhlberger finished second and third respectively.

Mitchelton-Scott have signalled their intent at this year's Tour with a second stage win, but Yates insists his main focus is to support his brother Adam's quest for the yellow jersey.

"This was probably a unique opportunity for me to do it this year. My main goal is to help Adam in the mountains and we thought that wouldn’t be needed today, that’s why I took the breakaway.

"After Daryl Impey’s win the other day, we’re having a fantastic Tour and hopefully it’ll continue.”

France's Julian Alaphilippe retained the overall leader's yellow jersey with a 1:12 advantage over defending champion Geraint Thomas.

In contrast to his twin brother and Mitchelton-Scott team mate Adam, Simon Yates has no ambitions in the general classification this year after finishing a disappointing eighth in the Giro d'Italia.

The spotlight will switch back to the overall contenders on Friday's 13th stage, when Thomas will look to increase his lead over his main rivals in the 27.2-km time trial in Pau.