After he completes a tough Ardennes Classics week, Simon Yates will find himself riding the Tour de Romandie, a tough race for both Giro and Tour contenders to gauge their form ahead of their big goals.

“Look at the past winners in Romandie, Chris Froome‘s won it the last two years, and the people who’ve been up there are the best sort of climbers,” Yates told Cycling Weekly.

“They way I look at it… The more that I’m exposed to these races and these guys, the more I learn how to race. The more time I can spend looking at how the top guys race and how these races pan out, that’s better for me in the long term.”

Yates was fantastic in the Basque Country, finishing fifth overall before fading in today’s Fleche Wallonne. He hopes to rediscover his form ahead of Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Romandie.

“It’s always hard to say. I feel well, I’m going really well in training, I had my best overall result as a professional in Basque… I have confidence, but you never really know going into these races. They’re so different because they are one-day events. A lot can happen.”

He says his attitude for the races are to do as best he can and to try and mix it up with the best, as if he doesn’t think this way, he will not achieve a satisfying result.

“You need to go into the races in that frame of mind. If you go into it thinking of a top 10, then you’d always be happy with that. If I say that I want a stage win or want to be up there overall, that’s better than saying I’d be happy with a top 10 or 20."

“You got to have enthusiasm. The sport’s pretty hard if you go into the races looking to just get around.”