Adam Yates frustrated by jury decision after Vuelta crash: "Then there's not much you can do"

Adam Yates was the biggest name to lose time in the sixth stage of the Vuelta a España on Thursday. The Brit (UAE-Team Emirates) crossed the finish line in Yanquera 2 minutes and 23 seconds behind the other general classification contenders, while the rest of the GC riders had already lost 6 minutes and 31 seconds to stage winner Ben O'Connor.

The day after the crash, Yates assessed the situation in an interview with Eurosport. "It was a slippery descent, which was tricky. Two riders in front of me went down, and I had nowhere to go," the climber explained.

After the earlier time loss, Yates is now over nine minutes behind. "Physically, I came out okay after the crash, but the commissaire immediately made a barrage. Then there's not much you can do, and you lose time." As Yates was getting back up, the peloton was pushing hard behind leader O'Connor.

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Yates draws motivation from O'Connor's successful day

Yates isn't throwing in the towel yet and has drawn motivation from O'Connor's solo ride. "He got away on a technical course on a hot day. If you can keep riding well, as he did, you can stay away. Ben obviously had superb legs, but on such a technical course, it's also hard to regain time."

"I've already lost a lot of time, but that also means I have nothing left to lose," continued the sixth-place finisher from the recent Tour de France. "What Ben did might still be possible for me. But if not, we have several riders high in the standings: the general classification is our main focus," said the UAE-Team Emirates rider.

Joao Almeida is now in third place, while Pavel Sivakov (14th) and Isaac del Toro (19th) are still ahead of Yates.