Yates was selected to ride the Tour de France. On Stage 7, Yates broke clear of the leading group of GC contenders on the descent of the Col d'Aspin, but was involved in an accident when the inflatable Flamme rouge marking remaining of the stage deflated as he rode underneath it. Yates suffered cuts to his chin requiring stitches, but after the stage results were revised to give him the 7 second advantage he had over the peloton with to go, Yates rose to second overall and took the white jersey as leader of the Young rider classification from Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quick-Step). On Stage 9, which was the first mountain top finish of the race at Andorre Arcalis, Yates finished tenth, leading home a select group of GC contenders including Chris Froome (Team Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) and Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick-Step). This meant Yates sat second overall going into the first rest day, 16 seconds behind Froome, and led the young rider classification by 39 seconds. Yates finished in 4th place 21 seconds behind Nairo Quintana's podium place. Nevertheless, Yates clinched the white jersey over 2 minutes ahead of Louis Meintjes (Lampre-Merida).