Many riders aimed to get into the day’s breakaway, but a few teams kept things tightly controlled. A group of seven escapees was never allowed more than a few minutes advantage.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike focused entirely on supporting Yates. Edoardo Affini, Dylan van Baarle, Olav Kooij, and Wout van Aert all worked for their leader in the early part of the stage, while Wilco Kelderman and Bart Lemmen delivered him to the base of the final steep section. There, Yates rode strongly to finish just a few seconds behind stage winner Juan Ayuso.

“There was quite a battle to get into the break at the start of the stage”, said sports director Marc Reef. “Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe quickly took control, so the breakaway never got much room. From then on, the race was mostly controlled. Our main goal was to protect Simon and position him well for the final climb. Bart and Wilco in particular played a key role in that. Simon looked solid. You never know exactly how the first real mountain stage will unfold, but we can be satisfied with what we saw today.”