Yates's Grand Tour Roll Continues

Brit leads Vuelta following stint in pink at the Giro, writes James Shrubsall

- James Shrubsall

Simon Yates became the surprise leader in the Vuelta a España on Sunday, but admitted he’d learned little from the Giro d’Italia in May that would help him guard against cracking later in the race.

“It’s difficult to say what I learned from the Giro because I still don’t know why I cracked,” he said. “If I did I would have learned a very valuable lesson, but we don’t know yet and that’s OK because every race is different.”

The Mitchelton-Scott rider held the maglia rosa for 12 stages in the Italian Grand Tour, ultimately blowing up on the slopes of the Colle delle Finestre shortly before Sky’s Chris Froome launched his race-winning 80km solo move.