Orica-GreenEDGE can’t stop winning as Adam Yates adds to stunning string of victories

ORICA-GreenEDGE’s incredible sequence of victories has continued with Adam Yates claiming the lead at the Tour of Turkey.

Adam Yates has taken the lead in the Tour of Turkey

ORICA-GreenEDGE’s incredible sequence of victories has continued with Adam Yates claiming Tour of Turkey leadership.

Yates, 21, notched his first professional victory atop the stage six summit finish in Selcuk to snatch the turquoise race leader’s jersey from Rein Taaramae.

Further west, Michael Albasini predictably fell from contention at the Tour of Romandie, conceding 40 minutes as Katusha’s Simon Spilak moved into yellow — one second ahead of reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome (Sky).

While Albasini achieved his objectives of ending Switzerland’s 10-year drought in the Tour of Romandie, Yates authored another glorious chapter in a monumental Orica-GreenEDGE week.

His win was the fourth for OGE in six days, capped by three stage triumphs, Albasini’s day in yellow and Simon Gerran’s historic victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Yates said.

“We have two more days yet to try to seal up the overall.

“I guess if it all goes to plan and we take the general classification, it will really mean something after that. For now, I’m happy with the result. The guys rode well all day.”

Yates and his identical twin Simon joined OGE last year as neo-pros as the Australian team pounced to claim a pair of “physiological freaks”.

“This shows what we already knew,” team director Laurenzo Lapage said.

“Adam has great potential. We started this race with the idea to give our young riders a chance to go for a stage win. We weren’t talking about the overall. It’s been perfect.

“For a 21-year-old, Adam is really mature.

“As a team, our strong point is that we don’t put any pressure on our young guys, but we know that they put on the pressure, and he handles it very well.”

Yates finished second to Taaramee on Tuesday on the Turkish Tour’s first summit finish. The duo had distanced themselves from the reduced bunch by the time they reached the finish line putting Yates in prime position to challenge for the overall lead overnight.

A six rider breakaway dominated the early action. When the gap between the leaders and the peloton extended just beyond 6mins, Cofidis took up the chase and 28km from the finish, the break had been reeled in by the bunch.

“We were in a great position,” Lapage said.

“We started the day in second with one of the best climbers in the peloton, but we never had to take control of the chase. Cofidis was there with first overall and third overall. If they wanted to keep the jersey, they would have to bring the break back.

“We’re down to five riders, it was the perfect position for us because of our situation. The boys looked after Adam all day and left him at the end to race all the climbers. The support from the team was great, and the way Adam rode was perfect.”

Riders from several different teams attempted to slip away from the bunch in the run in toward the final climb. None were allowed a long leash as Yates bided his time.

“It was quite windy out there today,” he said.

“There was a lot of crosswinds. The team took the wind for me all day. They put me in a good position for the climb. In a way, they made my life quite easy. From there, all I had do was a four or five kilometre uphill effort.”

Queenslander Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) attacked inside the final 3km, splintering the bunch before he was caught.

Yates pounced just outside the 1km kite, streaking away from the front group to take the lead.

“I had planned to go around the one kilometre mark,” Yates said.

“That’s exactly what I did. There were a couple guys off at that point, and I used them as a springboard. That worked out quite well for me. I passed them all and held everyone off until the end.”

“I looked behind a few times.

“I could see a couple guys chasing. I knew there was someone from Cannondale and another guy from the Polish team. I couldn’t see Taaramäe. I didn’t know where he was.”

Yates now has eyes on retaining the jersey into Istanbul.

“Of course we’re going to defend the jersey,” Lapage said.

“For me, it seems the last two days are a big chance for a bunch sprint. A lot of sprint teams will want to go for the wins. There is one guy on one second but the other riders are further back, so we have some space to breathe. We only have five guys left, but we’re strong enough to control it.”

On a hilly course, the 21-year-old beat Italians Davide Formolo and Davide Rebellin by two seconds in a solo attack on the uphill finish.

Previous leader Rein Taaramae had started the day six seconds ahead of Yates but lost seven seconds on the stage in coming home fourth.

Saturday's seventh stage of the 50th edition of this race is a 132km ride from Kusadasi to Izmir.