Simon Yates (Orica Scott) took a resounding victory on stage 6 of Paris-Nice with a long-range attack that saw him claw his way pack into contention for a podium spot.
The British rider started the day over two minutes down on race leader Julian Alaphilippe but chopped 29 seconds off the Frenchman's advantage after soloing clear of the bunch with 19 kilometres remaining.
The win was Yates' first since a stage in last year's Vuelta a Espana and he promised that there was more in the tank with two more mountain stages remaining in this year's 'Race to the Sun'.
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"I started the day quite far down on GC, around two minutes," he told Cyclingnews as he jumped off the podium.
Yates's move came on the penultimate climb of the Col de Bourigaille and both Team Sky and Quick-Step Floors allowed the Orica rider a 15-second advantage by the time he crested the summit. The final climb into Fayence, with its average gradient of nearly 10 per cent, was still to come but Yates more than held on to take the win from Sergio Henao (Team Sky) at 17 seconds and Richie Porte (BMC Racing) at 26 seconds. The attack moved Yates up to eighth, 1:37 off Alaphilippe's lead.
"The climb where I attacked was quite short, so I knew that I wasn't going to take two minutes if I wanted to win the overall. I had to try something, and I'm just happy that it came off," Yates added.
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