Simon Yates survived a major scare during Stage 10 as he battled back from an earlier puncture to maintain the overall lead at the Vuelta a Espana.
The 26-year-old, who rides for Mitchelton-Scott, eventually finished safely in the peloton, maintaining his one-second lead from Spain’s Alejandro Valverde.
Valverde finished in the same time at Yates while third-placed Nairo Quintana also suffered a puncture and remains 14 seconds back in the overall standings.
“I got a puncture, which is not ideal,” Yates said.
“It was okay though because we did a bike change. It could have been worse if it was a cross-wind out there but it was into our faces and so we dealt with it quite well and recovered.”
Italy’s Elia Viviani won Stage 10, beating sprinter Peter Sagal to victory in a close finish.
Yates is bidding to complete a British clean sweep of the Grand Tours this year, with Chris Froome the Giro d’Italia champion and Geraint Thomas the winner of the Tour de France.
The British rider moved into the lead on Sunday after sitting fourth for much of the first week and he could take a giant leap towards victory in Stage 11, which goes from Mombury to Luintra.
He won there during the 2016 Vuelta but expects a difficult task repeating that this year.
“I have checked it out and I think only the final part of the stage is the same. The beginning was harder in 2016, although it is still pretty hard here,” Yates added.
“It is still twisty and technical but not to the same extent. The finish is still difficult but I expect a similar sort of scenario.
“Every race is different and you have no idea what is going to happen. That’s the fun.”
Sportsbeat 2018