Despite not being cleared in time to race the Dauphine or Tour de Suisse due to his provisional suspension, Orica-GreenEDGE are keen to have Simon Yates for the Tour de France and they are preparing him to race the event.

They know he can do well in the race, even with a lack of racing, which he showed when he debuted in the race in 2014 on the back of a broken collarbone.

“Remember when he broke his collarbone in 2014? He raced the Tour of Slovenia, and still went to the Tour de France and climbed pretty well,” general manager Shayne Bannan told Cycling Weekly.

“If the outcome allowed him to ride the Tour de France, I’d say he’d be ready given his condition. He’d be a little bit underdone as far as racing is concerned, but the racing goes for three weeks.”