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Adam Yates wants to “keep things simple” in the Tour de France this year as he targets stage wins rather than the fight for the yellow jersey. The 28-year-old Lancastrian saw his general classification hopes frustrated in each of the past two Tours, but would have targeted the overall battle again this year if not for an illness which hit his preparations before he returned to racing at the Criterium du Dauphine earlier this month. “In the last couple of years I’ve not had the ideal preparation and then we’ve gone into the race targeting GC and it’s not gone to plan,” said Yates. “I think it would be silly to do that again. I’ve been sick, it was quite a severe illness. “Targeting GC is a big ask and if you’re not 100 per cent you’re going to be left behind. There are a lot of stages this year for the breakaway, and I think that there will be a lot of chances.”