Adam Yates battles through stomach bug to avoid time cut on Stage 17 at 2026 Tour de France - 'He suffered like a dog'

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Adam Yates survived a stomach bug to make it to the finish line within the time cut on a gruelling Stage 17 of the Tour de France. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider fell off the back of the bunch and looked for a while like he might be forced to abandon the race, but he dug deep to make it.

'Out of sorts' Yates dropped as he battles illness on Stage 17

Video credit: TNT Sports

Alongside team-mate Tim Wellens, who dropped back, and Uno-X Mobility’s Anders Johannessen, Yates finished nearly 27 minutes down on winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech).

After the stage, UAE's director Joxean Fernandez Matxin confirmed the problems began for Yates after Tuesday’s time trial and praised Wellens for aiding his team-mate.

"Yesterday, after the stage he [Yates] vomited and had stomach problems," Matxin told TNT Sports. "It's cold and it's a bad situation.

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"Last night he slept well, he slept eight hours. The feeling was not super, but it was not really bad. And in the race, in the first hour, [he could] continue the pace, and [then] every kilometre he was suffering and suffering and suffering.

"We took the decision as a team to tell Tim [Wellens] to stop to help him. [We] enjoy the good moments, the good victories as a team, and the suffering, the bad moments as a team.

"Tim is a super good team-mate. He has a super good heart and is an amazing rider, amazing professional for understanding that this stop was to help Adam."

Yates being able to cross the line and remain in the race will provide a boost for UAE and their lead rider Tadej Pogacar.

With three successive stages in the mountains ahead, Pogacar will be glad to have his climbing lieutenant by his side as he looks to protect his lead in the general classification from Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

The Slovenian, who holds a commanding 4'32" lead over Evenepoel, is confident Yates can recover sufficiently over the next few days to perform at something like his best level.

"Yesterday, he suffered like a dog," Pogacar said. "Today in the morning he looked much better, but it was such a hard stage. Even for everybody who was healthy it was a hard stage.

"When he dropped from the group we decided to wait with Tim [Wellens] and bring him safely to the finish because I think there’s a chance he’ll recover from this and he will be good on Friday and Saturday."

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