After failing to make the front group after missing the split on the Cote de Cherave, Simon Yates was angry at his performance in Fleche Wallonne, even if his co-leader Michael Albasini could salvage third for the team. Yates was caught behind a crash before the second of three climbs up the Mur de Huy and chasing on cost him valuable energy.

“We rode full biscuit to get back to the front guys,” Yates told Cycling Weekly after the race. “I thought maybe it’s just because of that and I’ll see how I was on the next climb. But the next climb was the same, so I knew I didn’t have it.”

“I think the style of racing is a bit different from how I’ve been going. Very different to the Basque country. There you’ve been up seven or eight 5km climbs and there’s a lot less stress in the bunch because everyone’s already tired. Here you’re arriving at the bottom of the climbs and there’s 100 guys still and I think it’s a different effort.”

“It’s all well and good saying I’m good on these short climbs and steep finishes but, it’s a different type of racing. It’s not the same as a stage race. I should be suited to them [short hard climbs] now, but in the next couple of years I need to try and learn how to race them really.”