ADAM YATES CLAIMS FIRST WT WIN AT SAN SEBASTIAN

Just six days after completing his first Tour de France, the 2014 Tour of Turkey champion crossed the line in surprise as he confirmed he had in fact won the biggest race of his young career.

Attacking from the peloton on the final climb with just ten kilometres to go, the noise of the crowd prevented Yates from confirming his position on the road with ORICA-GreenEDGE staff as he approached the finish line. With the chase group playing cat and mouse behind, Yates held on for a 15 second solo victory.

“Incredible,” Yates said. “I won, but I didn’t know I had won. I spoke on the radio to my sport director but because of the crowds the radio was too quiet. On the final climb there was a breakaway still up the road. Then there was a lot of carnage on the climb, there was a crash with a motorbike, and so I just went full gas. At the time I didn’t know if I had reached the lead or not.”

Yates returned to the Spanish one-day race 12-months after riding himself into a winning position over the final climb only to crash and suffer concussion on the final descent to the line.

The British rider also crashed at the Tour of the Basque Country not far from the area earlier in the season so was thrilled to redeem some unfinished business.