ADAM Yates was left amazed by the Yorkshire crowds after finishing fourth, and top British rider, in his debut Tour de Yorkshire.

The Bury rider came third in Sunday’s final 198km stage from Middlesbrough to Scarborough, falling just short of winner, Frenchman Thomas Voeckler.

The Direct Energie rider took the stage win and the overall victory and Yates admitted he just did not have the legs to go with his rivals in the closing kilometres.

“It is pretty awesome to be top Brit and finish third on the stage, towards the end I was suffering quite a bit,” said the 23-year-old.

“The guys were attacking and I was holding on – I didn’t really have the punch or the kick to accelerate myself so that is how it goes really – sometimes there are guys stronger than you and there is nothing you can do about it.

“But the team rode awesome all week, the whole three days so we can be happy with that, we will take that confidence into the second half of the season.”

This year’s race, the second in the event’s history, was Yates’ first stage race on British roads since he competed as an amateur for the Great Britain national team in the 2013 Tour of Britain.

Since then the Tour de France has started in Britain and the Tour de Yorkshire has been launched, with Yates astounded at the support on the side of the roads.

“It was awesome, the crowds were pretty immense – you don’t even get crowds like this in the Tour de France, it is pretty crazy,” said the ORICA GreenEDGE rider.

“It is always nice to come bike racing here so hopefully I can come back and do it again.”

Yates’ next race will be the Criterium du Dauphine next month, followed in July by the Tour de France, and while he targets a high position in the overall race, he hopes to pick up a stage win along the way.

But first off, a rest.

“Right now I’m going to have a bit of a break and then start the preparations for the Tour de France – this is where the major training starts so we will just take it from there and see what happens,” he said.

“General Classification is always the target for me and when you are riding GC then stages are part of that.

“Next up is the Dauphine, so I will try and do something there and then see what happens at the Tour de France.”

On the horizon at the end of the summer is the Rio Olympic Games with Yates targeting a place in the five-man Team GB squad.

With the hilly course suiting Yates’ riding style he is likely to be a strong contender, but he is taking nothing for granted.

“Every race makes a difference for Olympic selection. It is not like I am holding back in any race, targeting certain races,” he said.

“Every race I go into 100 per cent and if I can pull off a result then that is awesome.”

Yorkshire Bank is an Official Partner of the Tour de Yorkshire and the ground-breaking Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries initiative. Visit www.ybonline.co.uk/tdy