The blue figure of Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) was repeatedly spotted in the finale of stage 4 of Ruta del Sol.

One of 15 riders who swept past yellow-jerseyed Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates) in the early stages of the first classics, Yates was in constant motion on the rugged terrain that followed.

He pulled back dangerous attacks by Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Kazakstan), and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), attempted several himself, and led a breakaway of Lutsenko and Wout Poels (Bahrain (Bahrain-Victorias), and tried to pull back the breakaway group of Lutsenko and Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorias).

Yates, the only rider on Team Bike Exchange-Jayco, eventually finished the stage in seventh place.

However, despite being outclassed in a multi-rider break, including Astana Kazakstan, Ineos Grenadiers, and Bahrain Victorious, he told a small group of reporters after the race that he was "always up for a challenge."

"They were outnumbered and not very cooperative. But to each his own and I did my best."

"Hopefully we can improve a little bit more before tomorrow. Now we have to think about recovery. It was a hard day."

Asked if he chased to limit the loss of GC contender Poels or if he chased for a stage, Yates replied, "Both."

And in 2019, as the winner of Ruta's toughest stage, Yates could well be back in action on Sunday's summit finish, the most difficult day of the 2022 race.

However, he is cautious about a potential GC challenge, saying, "We'll take a proper look at the overall tonight and go from there."

"You saw how many people they [Bahrain] have in the lead group. So if they are strong tomorrow, it will be hard to win. But I'm always up for a challenge."