Honest van Aert saw team leader Yates excel in crazy Giro stage: "I don't know if I contributed to that"

Together with Michael Storer (Tudor), the experienced Yates finished just under two minutes behind winner Christian Scaroni. But more importantly, the Brit gained valuable time on pink jersey wearer Isaac Del Toro, who was in trouble for the first time in this Giro. This means that Yates is now just 26 seconds behind the Mexican from UAE Emirates-XRG, putting the Visma leader in an excellent position in this Giro d'Italia.

After an earlier attempt, Yates managed to shake off the pink jersey. "I felt good, but it was hard for me to get rid of him," the British rider told CyclingPro after the race. "So I did what I could." Yates was ultimately unable to keep up with Richard Carapaz's acceleration. "I felt that I had already been trying to get rid of the pink jersey. He (Carapaz, ed.) got a good gap, and that is it."

Yates, therefore, did very well to keep his chances open for the overall victory in Rome. In the third week, the experienced leader still has many good opportunities to make a difference. Yates also felt that he was in good shape. "It's going quite well, to be honest; it wasn't easy with the rain in the beginning. We'll see how the next days go."

"The conditions didn’t make things easy today," Yates continued later in a press release. "The rain at the start turned it into a real battle of attrition. We had to stay alert the whole day. Thanks to the team's strong work, we were always in a good position. Wout was also able to contribute late on, which was really helpful," said the Brit, who also felt that everything went well. "I’m feeling good at the moment. Things are looking positive, and luckily I had good legs today. We’ll see how this all develops in the coming days."

Sports director Marc Reef was understandably satisfied after the race. He saw that his team's tactics had paid off. "There was definitely a plan behind sending Wout into the break. It gave him the chance to support Simon later in the stage. Our original idea with Simon was to take a slightly more defensive approach, mainly to follow if the competition decided to go early. On the final climb," said the Dutchman. "Simon told us he was feeling really good, and that showed on the climbs. We’ve strengthened our position again. We’re happy with how things are developing at the moment."

Lieutenant Kruijswijk also saw on Tuesday that things were going well. "I think Simon is just having an excellent Giro, and he knows what he's doing. He's doing very well on Del Toro, in any case," the 37-year-old Dutchman told Eurosport after the stage. "It was just a tough day, and there are three more like it to come. If all goes well, he'll be fine."

While Yates remains pretty vague about the Killer Bees' tactics in the Giro, Kruijswijk was slightly more outspoken. "I think Simon is just waiting for his chance. He knows better than anyone that you can have big plans beforehand, but you also have to keep an eye on the competition, such as UAE, who always have a lot of riders at the front. If they're all still there, there's not much point. But he was ahead of them today, so who knows what the next few days will bring."

While the first few weeks may have been a bit difficult for the Dutchman, he, too, sees that he is approaching stages where he can make his mark. "I'm doing a bit better. Those first two weeks were a bit tough, especially because we were often going for the stage win. We really invested in controlling the stages. I felt that afterward. Now more stages are coming up where I feel more comfortable, so hopefully I can support Simon in that," said Kruijswijk.

Wout van Aert also saw that everything was going well. The Belgian was part of the breakaway and, after being dropped, was able to help his team leader. "Simon is doing a good job, so it was a good day for us, but a particularly tough one," Van Aert said on Sporza, looking back on the chaotic stage. "I burned 7,300 calories today. The plan was for me to be in the breakaway, especially if other GC teams like EF or INEOS were there. And when Rafferty (Darren, ed.) and Tarling (Joshua, ed.) were at the front, a gap opened up. I didn't hesitate and closed the gap."

Although it wasn't the intention to ride at the front with six riders for a whole hour because that takes a lot of energy." According to van Aert, however, it was the only way to help team leader Yates later on. "By starting with a bit of a lead." The British rider managed to shake off pink jersey wearer Del Toro on the final climb but ultimately had to admit defeat when Richard Carapaz accelerated. "I don't know if I contributed to that, to be honest," said van Aert. "But we had agreed that if the pace wasn't high enough, I would try to accelerate on the first less steep kilometers. It's remarkable, but they are even closer together in the rankings. The balance of power has become clear. And Carapaz was already in a strong position, which he proved today," said the Belgian.