ADAM Yates came close to victory in the Milano-Torino one-day race last Thursday, pushing Colombia's Rigoberto Uran all the way before eventually finishing second.

The Bury rider finished ahead of Italian champion Fabio Aru after edging in front of him in a punishing final climb of the Suprega, but he was unable to claw back Uran despite making late gains, eventually losing by 10 seconds.

Uran launched a solo attack inside the last three kilometres, as Yates fought on relentlessly behind in an attempt to close the distance to the Colombian.

As every metre ticked down, Yates drew closer and closer to but the line came too soon.

Orica-Scott's joint sport director Dave McPartland praised the young British riders efforts on what was a close and exciting finale in Torino.

“It wasn’t a win but Adam rode a really good race and the best thing about,” McPartland said.

“In hindsight, Adam should have gone with Uran’s attack but you can’t go with everyone and it becomes a tactical thing then, once somebody has gone up the road.

“He was riding well all day and the guys set him up in a good position coming into the climb for the first time.

"He was a little bit isolated on the last lap but once (Julian) Alaphilippe got away, other team’s had more numbers and rode to bring it back so it worked out okay for us.

“Once Uran established the gap it was down to Adam to just give everything he could to try and get across. He gave it his all and we can be happy with the result, his effort and form.”

Sadly, the effort seemed to cost Yates in the Il Lombardia on Saturday's.

The 25-year-old finished well down in the "monument", the final classic race of the season, following Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

“Adam ran out of legs in the last hour," said joint sport director Matt White. "He was good on Thursday but this race is hard, it’s a big step up and he fell a bit short today.”