ADAM Yates has reassessed his goals for the remainder of the Tour de France after making it to the first rest day in proud possession of the white jersey for best young rider.

The 23-year-old Bury cyclist is also second overall, just 16 seconds behind reigning champion Chris Froome after nine stages of the prestigious road race.

And while the objective he set before the Tour rolled out of Mont-Saint-Michel on July 2 – to notch up his debut stage victory in the mountains – remains important to him, he admits a tilt at the white or even yellow jersey is now on the cards.

"I'm very happy," he said, after reaching the finishing line of the final punishing day in the Pyrenees on Sunday.

"I reached the rest day in a very good position.

"I just need to recover well.

"I'd like to win a stage, but as long as I have options on GC (general classification – white or yellow jersey) I follow that goal."

Yates went under the radar somewhat in the first six, flat stages of the race, remaining level on time with Froome and the leading contenders for the yellow jersey as the sprinters dominated the headlines.

But on Friday, when the race moved into the mountains, where Yates was expected to make his move, the Orica-BikeExchange rider got a little more exposure than he bargained for.

After successfully breaking from the chasing pack in a bid to reel in eventual stage winner Steven Cummings he was floored by an inflatable distance marker, which is understand to have been accidentally unplugged and collapsed on top of Yates.

He required stitches in his chin after finally rolling into Lac de Payolle, but after race officials awarded him the time gap he had before the incident happened – with 1km to go – Yates was catapulted into the white jersey and second place overall.

"I was disappointed (with what happened) but there's not much you could do," said Yates, who felt he was well placed to get the stage win he craved.

"I had no time to react. It's a good job it was just me on my own.

"It could have been a lot worse with the peleton sprinting at 70mph."

Yates dug deep in Saturday's eighth stage to protect his status in the race.

He tracked Chris Froome over every climb, before the reigning champion surprised the leading pack with a hair-raising descent into Bagneres-de-Luchon.

Yates and the chasing bunch almost reeled him in, but a 10-second time bonus for finishing first in the stage put Froome 16 seconds in front of Yates, who retained second place.

"I had some pretty bad luck with the crash under the arch but it did not affect me physically," said Yates after Saturday's stage.

"I just tried to hang on. It was a full gas day from start to finish.

"I was at the limit on the last climb.

"There was nothing more I could do.

"I came to the Tour looking for stages and everything else is a bonus.

"GC (General Classification) was never an objective.

"If I have a bad day in the mountains, no stress.

"I have no pressure from the team to keep the white jersey."

Yates's tune changed, however, after again managing to stick with Froome on Sunday, making it to Andorre Arcalis still in second place and with a 39-second advantage over South African Louis Meintjes in the race for the white jersey.

It will be the turn of the sprinters to take centre stage tomorrow and on Wednesday's stage.

But if Yates is to challenge for a jersey, his credentials will be well-and-truly tested in Thursday's imposing climb up Mont Ventoux before the first time trial of the race on Friday.

The Alps then loom large in the third and final week of the marathon event, which finishes in Paris on Sunday, July 24.