Tirreno-Adriatico: Adam Yates not focused on overall victory as time trial looms
Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) may have narrowly missed out on the victory on stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico, but he came away satisfied with his efforts, taking third place behind miraculous victor Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), while also holding on to the race lead.
Sunday’s stage 5 promises another stern test, with seven tough climbs spread out over three laps of a finishing circuit in Recanati. The final hilly stage of the race promises another fierce battle between the top GC contenders, including Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), who finished second in Fossombrone and lies seven seconds back.
"I came to Tirreno-Adriatico to win stages," he said at the finish of stage 4. "With no big mountain stages and two time trials, the only chances to gain time are on the steep climbs, but you can never gain a lot on short climbs.
"I’m riding Tirreno, Catalunya and País Vasco with the goal of winning one of them. Tirreno is the race that suits me the least with the time trial at the end. I’ll always lose a big chunk of time but I’ll try to do my best tomorrow and we’ll see where we end up.
"Tomorrow looks harder than today, especially the final. I think it’s going to be a similar race, but tomorrow finishes uphill. It’s going to be my last chance to gain some time – especially on Roglič, because after that it’s a sprint stage and a time trial."
Saturday’s stage 4 saw the action kick off 35km from the line as a select GC group broke away on the Monteguiducco climb, before Lutsenko launched his own solo bid for glory soon after. Yates was up there in that elite chase group, racing the tight and steep roads with his eyes on the stage win.
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