With 12 miles to go the Mitchelton-SCOTT rider had to head to the side of the road and blew both tyres.
Luckily his team-mate Michael Albasini was on hand to switch bikes quickly, but he then discovered the Swiss ace's steed was too big — and had to change again.
He said: "I was just on the side of the road and I must have hit something or run over something and I had a double puncture which is not ideal but it could have been much worse.
"I’ve had some bad experience before having a puncture and waiting, then changing for my own bike or the wheel.
"Today we changed for Michael Albasini’s bike and it was a little too big, so we had to change again, but it was OK.
"It was quite a relaxed day and really nothing happened once the breakaway went away.
"The sprinters did all the work today, so full credit to those guys and for us it meant a relatively easy day.
"I wasn’t sure if there would be any attacks coming from Valverde, but in the end there wasn’t and that’s OK."
Quick-Step Floors sprinter Elia Viviani won the day's racing to Bermillo de Sayago near the Portuguese border.
Yates is aiming to become the third different Brit to win three consecutive grand tours in 2018 after Chris Froome's win at the Giro d'Italia and Geraint Thomas' Tour de France victory.
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