Simon Yates' GC challenge in the Giro d'Italia came to an abrupt end Sunday with a second summit finish at Brockhaus.

The BikeExchange-Jayco leader had enjoyed a strong start to his Giro campaign, winning the second stage time trial in Budapest and placing at the top of the GC contenders in the overall standings at the first mountain test on Mount Etna.

However, a crash early in the same stage left Yates with a knee injury. Several riders crashed as they passed through a small Sicilian town early in the stage, but he recovered to finish in the GC group in Etna.

However, he was unable to contend with the top climbers in the blockhouse and finished 34th, dropping out of GC contention.

"I lost the race," Yates told the assembled press disconsolately after the stage. It's causing me a lot of problems and I've stopped trying to hide it."

"That wasn't the only problem today. We suffered from the heat again. That's the way it is, guys. I gave it my all.

Yates came into the Giro in great form, winning two of the three stages of the Vuelta Asturias. However, he suffered from the heat and lost a lot of places in the second stage.

He said he still hopes to accomplish something on stage 9, but noted that he has been in a lot of pain since the crash.

"I was hoping I could still do something, but since Etna I've been in a lot of pain and I wanted to manage it as best I could. But like I said, that wasn't the only problem today. I also suffered from the heat.

Yates added that he will decide on his future in the Giro d'Italia after seeing how he recovers from his Brockhaus ordeal on Monday's rest day. At the very least, he will not decide to withdraw from the competition immediately.

"We'll see what happens now. There's a rest day and we'll see how he recovers from today's stage. We don't know yet."