Simon Yates on track for Giro d'Italia, reassures Team BikeExchange - Jayco

Simon Yates will be one of the main favourites for the upcoming Giro d'Italia, and he has a taken a non-traditional run-up to the race, using the Vuelta a Asturias as the final stepping stone before what is possibly his final tilt at the race.

On the queen stage of the race, Yates cracked and suffered in the final ascent due to the heat, which team DS Matt White came out to explain. “We’ve come straight from an altitude camp up in Andorra and the last three weeks have been cold there. Today was a big shock to the system with temperatures close to 30 degrees." Yates said that the head is "just one of those things that you have to deal with as the race goes on."

However after yesterday's final stage win, White has affirmed that the inconsistent performance from the Briton was not a cause for concern: "Traditionally he suffers with the first shock of high temperatures and humidity in the season, and we have now got that out of the way with two hot days here."

High temperatures aren't to be expected at the Giro d'Italia, however it is always a possibility and BikeExchange seem to be content with having put Yates through the test in northern Spain, so as to get him race ready for the Grand Partenza this coming Friday.

After winning the opening stage, Yates took the win on the race's final day in similar fashion, having attacked in the final climb and riding alone to the finish in Oviedo: “It was a good race today in the end. I had a little bit of a bad day yesterday, just with the heat. It was the first really hot race that I had done all year but today I bounced back very well, the legs felt good and the team rode really well again."

"They [Team BikeExchange - Jayco] controlled all day, set me up well for the final attack on the last climb, so it all went to plan and now we are looking forward to the Giro, which starts already in five days," he concluded.