A winner of a stage in Tirreno-Adriatico and fourth overall in last year's Volta a Catalunya, Yates had been working hard for his brother Simon earlier in the stage. Simon Yates was part of a late four-rider breakaway that included Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Mathias Frank (AG2R La Mondiale) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) that was reeled in just before the shortened stage finish in Camprondon.
There was a tangle in the peloton as the breakaway was caught, and Adam Yates crashed hard and could not complete the stage, but he was not given an official DNF because the incident occurred inside the final 3km and the rules do not require riders to cross the line in such cases.
Michelton-Scott told Cyclingnews Adam Yates had been taken to a local hospital for scans. Later on Twitter, the team said he had abandoned and was being checked over for lower back pain.
Adam and Simon Yates had started the Volta a Catalunya as co-leaders, with their third GC specialist, Esteban Chaves, saying he was not a contender in the week-long stage race. Simon Yates completed stage 3 in second place and is currently fourth overall, whilst Chaves finished nearly two minutes down.
More to come…
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Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
