Orica-Scott duo suffering from early-season sickness
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Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) before the illness got the better of him(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Adam Yates (Orica-Scott)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) on the winners podium at Paris-Nice(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) finishes stage 4(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) finishes the final stage of Paris-Nice(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
At the start of Tirreno-Adriatico's fifth stage, Adam Yates was sitting second overall, well placed to finish on the overall podium. However, the stomach problems the 24-year-old was suffering from in the morning quickly developed into a fever, and he was forced to abandon.
In France at Paris-Nice, twin brother Simon was also suffering illness after his Fayence stage win but had recovered enough strength to finish off the race. He even improved his overall position from tenth to ninth after his 15th place result on stage 8.
While the team's sports director Matt White was disappointed to have lost another rider at Tirreno, following the abandons of Caleb Ewan and Roger Kluge, he was impressed by Yates' showing.
"He had four big days, and obviously, he has super form, we saw that yesterday," White said of his ride up Terminillo. "It's disappointing because he definitely deserved the podium here, but there are some things you can control and some things you can't and illness is definitely something you can't."
Adam Yates finished an anonymous 118th at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana to start the season before winning GP Industria & Artigianato for the second time in his career. Last year's Tour de France white jersey winner is co-leading Orica-Scott's Giro d'Italia team alongside Simon with Tirreno-Adriatico a key race in preparation for the Corsa Rosa. He will now continue his build-up to the Giro at Volta a Catalunya later this month where White believes a podium is well within reach
"He'll go back home tomorrow and take a couple of days to recover from the illness there and step back into it and prepare for Catalunya. He's got a great team supporting him there and he's got a great team that suits his characteristics," he said. "I think Catalunya is a great race for him and we can go into Catalunya and target a podium there."
Roman Kreuziger is now the best placed Orica-Scott rider in Italy, sitting 18th overall with two stages to come.
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Paris-Nice
Simon Yates' stage win at Paris-Nice saw him rise to eighth on GC but he cracked the following day on the climb to Col de la Couillole. Orica-Scott sport director Laurenzo Lapage explained that considering Yates' illness, the race can be judged a success.
"The way Simon has raced the past two-days was really great after his tough day on stage six with the solo victory," said Lapage. "He showed today and yesterday he was always fighting and today he was able to move up to ninth overall.
"Today was really hard but he was still there in the end with the best guys. A stage win and a top ten is something that if we said we would achieve before the race, then yes, of course we are happy with that."
Tirreno-Adriatico stage 5 highlights - Video
Paris-Nice stage 8 highlights - Video
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