BRITAIN’S Adam Yates could not pull back the two seconds he needed to secure a podium spot at the Tour of California.

Bury cyclist Yates was within touching distance of Daniel Martinez going into the 90.7-mile stage seven around Sacramento, but a bunch sprint ensured there were no movers at the top of the general classification.

Egan Bernal took the race win, having brought himself back into contention on a hilly stage six. Tejay Van Garderen was second.

Martinez was third, followed by Yates (down 2min 16secs) and Tao Geoghegan Hart a further 12 seconds back.

Team Sky took the team classification win, while Fernando Gaviria took the final stage win and the green jersey for best sprinter.

Elsewhere, Yates’ twin brother Simon extended his lead in the Giro d’Italia by winning stage 15 while his main rivals struggled on the road to Sappada.

Mitchelton-Scott’s Yates won his third stage of the race so far, by 41 seconds from Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez while Team Sunweb’s Tom Dumoulin, second overall, was third on the same time as Lopez.

With bonus seconds applied, 25-year-old Yates now leads Dumoulin by 2:11.

Dumoulin, the world time trial champion, is expected to take a chunk out of that advantage when the race resumes tomorrow with a race against the clock starting in Trento.

Team Sky’s Chris Froome, who won Saturday’s stage 14 on Monte Zoncolan, was distanced on the final two climbs of Sunday’s stage and finished as part of a group over 90 seconds after Yates. He now sits sixth overall, 4:52 down.