“I’m really happy,” Yates said. “The team did a fantastic job today, they really controlled the start and worked a lot and I managed to finish it off so I’m really happy. “I saw the boys from Ineos were happy just to ride a tempo and I had a feeling they would let me go today. I read something from Egan on Twitter or whatever about how they would be conservative and try to control rather than go with me and as soon as I attacked I saw that was correct.” It was on stage 19 of the 2018 Giro that Yates, having spent 13 days in pink, cracked at the moment that Chris Froome sprang forward to victory, but three years later the 28-year-old is the rider coming into form just as Bernal is put on the defensive.