BURY’S Simon Yates is enjoying his first Tour de France but admits it is tough going.

The 21-year-old made the most of a first rest day on Tuesday to recover from illness that affected his ride in the preceding days.

But he felt better when the race restarted yesterday.

In his blog on skysports.com, Yates, pictured, said: “The weather was bad and there was a lot of spray on the road and I think I must have swallowed some of that dirty water.

“I had a cough straight after and then woke up the next morning pretty sick.

“It’s been a really tough and treacherous 10 days.

“I felt like I was going pretty well before I came down ill.”

Yates resumed racing yesterday looking to again be pushing the leading riders.