Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas my not be there this year but another British rider, Adam Yates, is currently leading the Tour de France.

AFP Sport looks at a few facts about the Mitchelton-Scott climber.

Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe was born in Failsworth, near Manchester, which is just 10 miles away from the town of Bury where cycling brothers Adam and Simon Yates grew up. When Adam signed recently for Ineos there was talk of Ratcliffe liking the “no-nonsense style” of the climber’s work and attitude. He joins Ineos on a two-year-deal in 2021.

Adam and Simon were trained as cyclists by their father, and when Simon left for British cycling, Adam moved to France to pursue a road career at a club in Troyes in 2011. The pair however both signed for Australian outfit Orica-Greededge (now Mitchelton-Scott) and have been there ever since.

Yates shot to attention while leading stage seven of the 2016 Tour before a bizarre accident involving a stray inflatable sign brought him down at full speed just 1km from the line in a fall that necessitated stitches in his chin.

On the same 2016 Tour, Yates was again close to taking the yellow jersey on the now legendary climb of Mont Ventoux that saw Chris Froome abandon his bike and run after the Mitchelton-Scott man. Race organisers eventually neutralised the stage, handing Froome back the overall lead.

Yates took the overall lead on this year’s Tour by default when Julian Alaphilippe fell foul of a late water pickup and took a 20-second time penalty on stage five. The new leader was already on his team bus and had taken his shower when he got a phone call telling him to come to the podium to take one of cycling’s most coveted prizes.