SIMON Yates has a 2mins 6secs cushion over white jersey rival Louis Meintjes heading into tomorrow's decisive penultimate stage in the Tour de France.

Meintjes chipped away at the Bury's rider's lead in the final two mountain stages, dropping him on the Col du Galibier on Wednesday to recoup 90 seconds and clawing back another 22 seconds in yesterday's summit finish on the Cole du Izoard.

But Yates, aged 24, worked hard to limit the losses, and should have enough left in the tank to finally see off the challenge in tomorrow's time trial in Marseilles.

The honorary Bury Clarion member put in a superb effort in the opening time trial of the Tour in Dusseldorf, beating his South African rival by 35 seconds on the day.

And after riding conservatively in the Alps to protect his lead, Yates is cautiously confident he has the legs to finish the job.

“You can never think you have won something until the job is complete,” Yates said when asked if he had the white jersey sewn up following the final mountain stage.

“We still have some hard stages to go, including the time trial, so you can never be sure until we get to Paris.

“But I’m in a good position. We need to be careful, but I feel more confident now we have got through today.”

The Tour will finish off with two flat stages, from Embrum to Salon-de-Provence today and the procession to Paris on Sunday, either side of the time trial in Marseilles.

Yates was set a twin goal by team Orica-Scott – to win the white jersey and finish in the top 10 – after being chosen as lead rider in what is his third attempt at the Tour.

He is well on course to achieve that, going into the final three stages in seventh place overall, 4:46 behind leader Chris Froome.

The former Derby High School pupil admitted to a slight frustration he was not able to stick with the yellow jersey group on some of the decisive stages, including the race up the Cole du Izoard.

But his focus was always on protecting the white jersey, a process that should give him a good insight into future battles, when Yates hopes to one day battle for yellow.

"I didn’t lose much time so I think it was a good day,” Yates said, after rounding off his final mountain stage of the Tour. “I tried to do my own ride and my own rhythm and tackle the climb like this. I gave it everything so I have to be happy.

“I was a little bit off that top group of riders on the final climb, I think it has been that way this whole Tour, but I am still happy with where I am at and how I have been riding.”

Should Yates reach the climax in Paris wearing the white jersey it will cap a remarkable achievement, not just for him but also his family.

This time last year it was his twin brother Adam riding into the French capital in white – the first Brit to do so since the young rider's prize was introduced in 1975.

The white jersey is seen as an important rite of passage for future champions, with many winners going on to claim yellow later in their careers, meaning both Simon and Adam could one day be competing against each other for the main prize in the sport's blue riband event.

Adam, who also rides for Orica-Scott, sat out this year's Tour in preparation for an attack on GC at the Vuelta a Espana later in the year.