Mikel Landa has angrily hit out at Simon Yates after a crash on stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia that cost him more time in what’s been a rough start.
Several crashes marred the fourth stage to Frascati. Both Landa and Yates were involved and although they both managed to recover and finish the former is now 1”49 down on General Classification leader Primoz Roglic.
“That idiot Yates. He’s mentally retarded. He rides like a madman and he made me fall”, Landa told AS. “He took me down on the roundabout. The crash is no big deal, it’s the time I’ve lost again. Now I’m nearly two minutes behind Roglic.”
“It sucks when things that don’t depend on you to happen. In the time trial I had trouble, but today I ended up on the ground because of someone else.
“This is not the start that I wanted. As a matter of fact, my feelings are pretty bad with all these disadvantages.”
Yates said another rider fell in front of him, causing him and others to hit the deck while desperately chasing Primoz Roglic.
“Everyone was fighting for position for a roundabout, a rider slid out in front of me,” Yates said. “It was no one’s fault. I’m not blaming anyone. I got up quickly and had the guys around me to limit the losses.”
The Spaniard later apologised for remarks made against Yates, saying his words had been “taken out of context.”
