ADAM Yates further strengthened his reputation as one of the best young riders in the world after winning the GP Industria and Artigianato di Larciano for the second time.

The former Bury Clarion rider, who shot to prominence last season by winning the white jersey at the Tour de France, sprinted to victory in style against an elite field of the world's best climbers.

His Orica-Scott team-mates rode a controlled and intelligent race behind the day’s early breakaway before strong turns from Australians Jack Haig and Rob Power dramatically reduced the peloton and set the scene for 24-year-old Yates.

Part of an elite six-man group that contested the finale, and included Cannondale-Drapac riders Rigoberto Uran and Simon Clark, the ex-Derby High School pupil played it perfectly, letting his companions attack before jumping clear at the last moment and sealing the win.

“I wasn’t lucky, but I’m not renowned as a sprinter so it’s a good win for me,” said Yates at the finish. “I tried to give it some welly on the last climb and have a few digs, but I couldn’t get away from the other guys and had to wait for the sprint.

“It’s really good to come back here and get a second win, the team were fantastic and it’s a great way to go into the Tirreno Adriatico.”

Sport director Neil Stephens was overjoyed with the result and the overall team performance.

“Fantastic day,” said Stephens. “The boys were superb throughout, we knew it was going to be a hard race so we were happy when the early breakaway went clear without posing too much of a threat.

“There were no issues over the first two-thirds of the race, then we had a bit of chat and the boys started bringing it back together on the penultimate lap and looking ahead to the finale.

“We rode hard going into the final circuit with Jack and Rob really driving the race to shake things up before Adam took off. From there he played his cards brilliantly, he had a few digs to test the water before picking his moment to finish it off.

“It was a well deserved result for the team and a great effort, of course we are very happy to be continuing our great start to the season.”

Simon Yates, Adam's twin brother, has made steady progress in the Paris-Nice race and was in 20th place after Tuesday's third stage, 1min 18secs behind leader Arnaud Demare ahead of Wednesday's punishing individual time trial to Mont Brouilly.