Britain’s Adam Yates withstood a great deal of pressure to hold on to the Tour de France chief’s yellow jersey in a hard day inside the Pyrenees on stage eight of the race.
The Mitchelton-Scott rider found the going sturdy inside the final 15km of the 141km stage to Loudenvielle.
Nevertheless he found a late surge of energy to retain his lead.
France’s Nans Peters gained the stage with the AG2R La Mondiale rider the one survivor of an early breakaway.
Nonetheless, Thibaut Pinot efficiently misplaced all hope of turning into the first Frenchman to win the race since 1985 when he was dropped on the second climb of the day.
Further to adjust to.
