Giro d'Italia challenger Simon Yates completed his preparations for the Corsa Rosa by winning two stages in three days at the Vuelta Asturias.

The Brit will lead BikeExchange-Jayco in the Giro, which starts Friday in Hungary. He struggled in the heat on stage 2 and finished the race well out of contention for GC, but recorded a solo victory on the hilly stage to close out the three-day race.

On the opening stage of the Vuelta Asturias, Yates escaped in the mountains 6km before the finish to take the opening leader's jersey. He attacked on the final climb 5km before the finish line, and led the rest of the pack by 37 seconds in Oviedo.

"It was a good race today in the end," he said. Yesterday I was a little out of shape because of the heat. It was my first hot race of the year, but I bounced back well today and my legs felt good. [They] controlled me all day and set me up well to attack on the last climb.

Team sport director Matt White explained how the team approached the day's finale, adding that the team controlled the stage for the Giro. [Today was a short, intense, and relatively flat day. There were some really important and very, very tough climbs to the finish." Like the last few days, we continued the process of preparing for the Giro, taking control of the day and getting the break back.

"Callum Scottson broke away on the downhill climb and Simon caught him. He rode at a tempo that no one else could keep up with and was in the safest spot on a very tricky descent where there was a crash in the main group behind him.

Yates has raced the Giro four times before, winning four stages and finishing third last year.

Once again he is one of the top contenders and will lead a team that includes Lawson Craddock, Lucas Hamilton, Michael Hepburn, Tanel Kangert, Damian Howson, Callum Scottson, and Matteo Sobrero into Italy.

"Simon was too strong. It was a good comeback after yesterday," White explained. 'We know why Simon struggled yesterday. Traditionally, he suffers from the first hot and humid shock of the season.

"With two wins in this race, the team is in very good shape. Now we will focus on getting the legs up, recovering, and heading to Budapest to start the Giro d'Italia next week.