Wednesday 1 June 2016 14:41, UK
British climber Adam Yates is hoping to challenge for stage victory and the overall lead on the opening day of the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday.
The eight-day race begins with a 3.9km uphill prologue time trial in Les Gets that averages 9.7 per cent in gradient and contains sections exceeding 15 per cent.
Yates flourished on a similarly steep uphill time trial at the Tour of the Basque Country in April, finishing fourth behind Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and Sergio Henao, but he believes he could perform even better on the Dauphine's course.
He told skysports.com: "I'm pretty excited about the time trial in the Dauphine. It's a 4km prologue and similar terrain to the one at the Basque Country, so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into that and seeing what I can do.
"I was a little bit sick at the Basque Country but I finished fourth that day, so maybe I can be up there challenging again at the Dauphine.
"I've been working on my time-trialling. Everyone knows how important it is. You can win or lose a race on a time trial, so it's an area I've been trying to improve. I haven't done anything outrageous, but I spend a lot of time on the TT bike."
Yates is using the Dauphine as a final warm-up for July's Tour de France, where he will primarily target stage wins but may also focus on the general and best young rider classifications.
The 23-year-old made his debut at the Tour last year and twice placed seventh on mountain stages before finishing the race in 50th overall.
"The Tour is the main goal of the season and we are going to go in with a similar plan, which is going for stages," he added.
"This year looks a lot hillier than last year, which suits me much more. Both the time trials are very hilly and suit me as well, so if I don't lose too much time in the first week... I wouldn't say I will target GC, but this Tour is a lot easier for me to get up there in the GC.
"If I have a bit of luck and don't get caught up in any crashes, we can see. A lot of guys in the best young rider classification have moved up, so there is potentially an opportunity for me there as well to spend a couple of days in the white jersey."
Yates' Orica-GreenEdge team go into the summer buoyed by Esteban Chaves' second place overall at the Giro d'Italia.
Yates is two years younger than Chaves but is a fellow pure climber and believes the Colombian's performances at both the Giro and last year's Vuelta a Espana, when he finished fifth overall, prove what can be achieved.
Yates said: "He has ridden GC a couple of times and you have seen how those experiences have helped him.
"It is not like he has changed anything, but he has gained experience and worked at it and he's now doing some amazing things. It's still my goal to go down that road."
