Sir Dave Brailsford has described Adam Yates as a “terrific talent” and believes the 23-year-old can be the next British winner of the Tour de France.
Yates is 16 seconds behind leader Chris Froome in second place in the general classification after far exceeding expectations with a near-flawless opening week.
Even if his challenge collapses this year, Brailsford believes Yates has already proven he has what it takes to claim the yellow jersey in the future.
Speaking at press conference on Monday's rest day, the Team Sky principal said: "It's obvious that he is a terrific talent and that he is a potential GC [general classification] contender, if not already a GC contender.
"You can't say that he can't be [the next British winner], from what he is showing so far.
"He is in second overall and in the young rider's jersey. If that was the French or maybe the Spanish, they would be jumping up and down about it."
Yates started the Tour with the primary goal of winning stages out of the breakaway and suggested he may deliberately lose time on certain days in order to save energy for others.
Brailsford, however, has urged Yates to continue to target the general classification, even if he falls out of contention.
"I hope he tries [to hold his podium spot] because I think he was talking about losing a bit of time and stage wins and everything else," Brailsford added.
"At that age, unless you go all the way, unless you find out what it's like and start to learn, you are not just going to get to a point where you can step up and win.
"He should continue racing as long as he can for three weeks, manage himself and see how he gets on. I don't think that if he drops off a little bit that he should sit up and go for stage wins.
"Keep on persevering with the whole adventure because I think that will stand him very good stead for future years."
The Tour resumes on Tuesday with a 197km 10th stage from Escaldes Engordany to Revel. Find out more about the route in our race guide and follow the stage live with our live blog from 1pm BST.