Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) showed a first sign of weakness at the 2018 Giro d`Italia on Thursday, losing time to Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb), Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) and Chris Froome (Team Sky) on the fast finish to Prato Nevoso. He tried hard to paper over cracks in his defence of the maglia rosa, insisting it was just a bad day and that the multiple mountain stages to Bardonecchia and Cervinia suit him much more. However, Dumoulin is just 28 seconds down on the Briton and he got a real taste of blood after two-and-a-half weeks of suffering. `I feel really good. I was only bad for one kilometre, so that`s OK. I`m still in the lead, I`m still in front. Dumoulin is 28 seconds behind, not 28 seconds ahead of me. For me that`s OK,` he said, perhaps to convince himself, his rivals and everyone else who feels the Giro d`Italia is suddenly wide open.ADVERTISEMENT `Today is very different to the next few days,` Yates said. `Today was one big effort in the final. Tomorrow there are many passes and longer climbs that suit me much more. This does not hurt my confidence. I`m much more confident about tomorrow and the next day than I was about today.` Asked specifically if this time loss was the first crack in what seemed to be an invincible armour, Yates gave a little more away but put the blame on the fast finish that facilitated the high-speed attacks from Dumoulin and Froome. `For sure, today was not a super day for me, as in the parcours I mean. The next few days suit me much more. I am looking forward to them,` he said. `Everyone expects Tom to lose time to me on every climb because he is a time triallist, but he is a classy rider. I didn`t have the legs to follow him. Was it a first crack? Good question. I don`t know. I hope not.` Yates insisted that his aggressive race strategy so far had been the right one. `It`s what I needed to do to be in the lead,` he said. `If I hadn`t been so aggressive, I would be behind now. I have taken 40 seconds in ...
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