Yates brothers' best showing in years

Double rebirth for Lancashire twins as they impress with attacking performances

- Vern Pitt

As the Tour began its long march from the decisive mountains in the Alps towards the Champs-Élysées in Paris, Adam Yates was asked if any of his team-mates could tell him and fraternal twin Simon apart if they swapped kits. There was a pause before he answered: "Maybe. He's a bit skinnier than me right now."

In truth, superficial differences aside, the twins have never been closer than at this Tour, the first they have ridden while both targeting the general classification. Their races panned out differently on their way to finishing third and fourth on GC, separated by just 1:27, but both have reasons to celebrate.

For Adam that's the podium plus a stage win in Bilbao on the first day of the race and a subsequent yellow jersey stint. Escaping alongside his brother on that stage set the tone of the next three weeks for the pair, who would frequently find themselves on the attack, perhaps most notably on stage 17, where Simon just came up short of a stage win and Adam secured a podium spot.