In his first race since June, Daryl Impey has proved that he is already back in good form by picking up five bonus seconds on stage 2 of the Tour of Alberta. The result crowned a solid day for Orica-GreenEDGE that also captured the mountains jersey with Simon Yates.

ORICA-GreenEDGE has had a successful day of racing at the Tour of Alberta with Daryl Impey gaining crucial time bonuses and Simon Yates claiming the King of the Mountains jersey on today’s stage two.

Impey, the first South African to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, claimed five bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints to move up four positions into sixth on general classification. 

Meanwhile, Yates now holds the climbers jersey by one point.

“Today was a much better day for the guys,” sport director Matt Wilson said. 

“We went out trying to be very aggressive and to make the race and that is exactly what they did.

“We managed to pick up five seconds in time bonuses for Daryl along the way which was fantastic and also Simon Yates is now in the King of the Mountains jersey which he took when he went away in the last 50km.”

Yates, the British neo-pro, featured for ORICA-GreenEDGE in a five-man breakaway after the stubborn peloton finally let them go after 100km of racing. 

The 22-year-old was joined by Robin Carpenter (HSD) in his second breakaway attempt in as many days, Kiel Reijnen (UHC), Cameron Wurf (CAN) and Jim Stemper (5HR).

The break survived long enough for Yates to claim the only King of the Mountain points up for grabs before being caught ahead of a bunch sprint in the final kilometres.

Jonas Ahlstrand (GIA) claimed the stage victory whilst teammate Tom Dumoulin safely defended his overall lead.

“The boys tried to set up Daryl in the finish but it wasn’t to be,” Wilson said.

“They got a bit swamped so he didn’t get any stage placings but overall I think the day went well.

“Daryl has moved up in the general classification and I think going forward into the rest of the Tour we are in a good position to give it a shake for the overall GC.”