Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has renewed the TV rights to show the Giro d'Italia in Europe and the USA, on TNT Sports and HBO Max, until at least 2029, it was announced on Wednesday.

The rights are exclusive in Europe, outside of Italy, and include the men's and women's races, alongside Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and other RCS Sport-organised events.

The full package includes the Giro d'Italia, the Giro d'Italia Women, the Giro Next Gen, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, Milan-Torino, Il Lombardia, Gran Piemonte, and the UAE Tour.

According to WBD, its coverage of last year's Giro was the most-watched ever, with a 44% growth on streaming platforms, and 84% growth across social media.

WBD also hold the rights to the Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and other ASO-organised races like Paris-Roubaix, alongside the Vuelta a España. In the UK, cycling is shown on TNT Sports or through HBO Max, with HBO Max used across Europe and the USA too; in the USA, non-exclusive coverage will also be shown on truTV.

"Cycling is at the heart of our live multi-sport offer and no-one covers this sport like we do through unparalleled race coverage and rider storytelling," Trojan Paillot, SVP Sports Rights Acquisitions and Syndications at WBD Sports Europe, said in a statement. "With a rich cycling heritage that spans multiple decades, we are recognised as the home of cycling and go-to destination for cycling’s greatest events including the Giro d’Italia and Giro d’Italia Women."

"By extending our rights to show the Giro d’Italia, Giro d’Italia Women and a whole host of premier Italian races, we have underlined our commitment to supporting the long-term growth of the sport. As a trusted partner to RCS and the Giro, we will continue to invest in enhancing our coverage and know we can attract the widest set of viewers around the world with this approach to help inspire the next generation of cycling stars."

"We are proud to continue and strengthen a long-standing partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, which for over thirty years has helped bring the Giro d’Italia and our races to millions of fans around the world with unparalleled reach," Paolo Bellini, CEO at RCS Sport, said. "This is especially true in the European market—including the UK through TNT Sports—and in North America, thanks to the HBO Max platform.

"This agreement reaffirms the global value of our events and their growing appeal, across both men’s and women’s racing. Together, we will keep pushing the boundaries of cycling storytelling, building on the rich heritage of our competitions while showcasing the achievements of the sport’s new generation of champions. Our goal is to further expand our global fanbase and inspire new audiences to connect with cycling."

Simon Yates’s shock immediate retirement from cycling was something that had been on his mind ever since he won the Giro d’Italia, one of his longtime friends in the sport has revealed.

Owain Doull raced with Yates as a junior and the pair were also on British Cycling’s Academy back in 2012 and 2013. Though the pair had never been on the same road team in their WorldTour careers, they have maintained a friendship and were set to both ride for Visma-Lease a Bike in 2026, after Doull had made the switch from EF Education-EasyPost. That was until Yates announced his sudden departure from the sport just a few days into the year.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly at Visma’s winter training camp in eastern Spain this week, Doull said that unlike others he was “not massively” surprised by Yates’s decision, pointing to a conversation he had with him on the final day of the Giro last year.

“I was with him on the last stage of the Giro and I said congrats to him,” Doull recalled. “I said I would have preferred it if Richard [Carapaz, Doull’s then-EF teammate] had won but if I wanted anyone else to win it it would have been him so I was super happy for him.

“And he kind of said to me back then, ‘To be honest, I think this might be me done’. I asked what he meant and he said, ‘I think I might just stop here. It’s not going to get any better than this’.

“Obviously this was the last day when you’re in Rome, you’ve just done three weeks, and I don’t think he was expecting to be standing in Rome in the pink jersey, so it was a lot to take in for him.

“He then went to the Tour [de France] and other races but I think it was always in the back of his mind. Obviously I saw him at the December [Visma] camp as well, and he was getting ready for the season and he seemed happy and motivated, but I think that overriding feeling of wanting to stop was a big thing and I have to say chapeau.

“He’s also getting paid a lot of money to race his bike and he’s saying, ‘Actually, no, I’ll pass on that. I want to finish at the highest level.”

Doull, 32, added that the pressure Yates and other riders of his ilk are under makes it entirely understandable that he came to the decision he did. “It’s a lot of sacrifice, a lot of risk, a lot of time away, especially when you’ve been doing it at Simon’s level for so, so long,” Doull continued.

“I work just as hard as the other guys but the level of expectation and demand is a lot less for me, so that’s probably why I would be happy to do this for another four, five years or whenever that time comes for me.

“But for those top guys, the level of commitment, scrutiny, and dedication they’re under is a lot. I just think chapeau for not just taking the cheque and doing nothing and instead finishing when he was ready to finish. I think that’s admirable.”

Matteo Jorgenson rode the Tour de France with Yates last year, a race in which the Briton took a memorable stage victory in the Massif Central. Jorgenson’s side of the story was different to Doull’s in that he had received no indication that the 33-year-old Yates was close to hanging up his racing wheels.

“With my teammates now we talk about it and ask if we were surprised, and if we got any feeling that he was already checked out or anything,” Jorgenson said. “None of us really can [say yes] because he was so professional last year and it was really the full Simon Yates in every race he was at.

“He was very professional last year and was always present in all the races and training camps that I was with him at.

“It’s not like Simon was talking about it last year or that it was something on his mind publicly or with us. Probably it was with his intimate circle and the people he was close with it was something he talked about.”

Jorgenson shared a story from Visma’s pre-Tour altitude camp in Tignes in the French Alps last June to highlight Yates’s professionalism. “I didn’t win the Giro, I don’t know what that experience is like so I can’t judge him for it. All I saw was that he won the Giro and then a few days later he drove to altitude and joined me and the other guys preparing for the Tour.

“All I thought then was that this guy is extremely, extremely dedicated and he was. It’s an extremely hard thing to do in that he hadn’t had any celebration. People imagine you win a Grand Tour and you go out and celebrate for a while but it’s not really the reality of cycling; there’s always another race.

“I don’t judge people for the decisions they make and I actually come away with it with even more respect for him because I know it’s a decision that wasn’t easy. I am sure he has good reasons. You only know someone’s experience when you’re the one living it so I just applaud that he was willing to take a hard decision and be confident with it.”

Visma team manager Richard Plugge was also similarly shocked by Yates’s decision, and the Dutch boss explained how the two-time Grand Tour winner explained to him that he’d be bowing out.

“He called us over the Christmas period, we had a good talk and it was a clear message,” Plugge said. “If someone calls you and says I want to retire, what are you going to say? Don’t do it? No, it doesn’t work like that.

“He will have thought about it and he did and we also know him as someone who thinks a lot about things and then comes up with a good idea, his own idea, so I knew when he called me he knew he had had enough.

“It’s very sad that he left us, but on the other hand, like Jonas [Vingegaard] said, we have respect for the way he did it. He said I want to quit, I want to retire, I want to leave, and that’s his choice.

“Of course it would have been better if he told us in September but we can’t dwell on that for a very long time. It is what it is and we have to adapt to it.”

Simon Yates has announced his shock retirement from professional cycling with immediate effect.

The reigning Giro d'Italia champion made the announcement via his team, Visma-Lease a Bike, on Wednesday afternoon. He is one of two British riders to win multiple Grand Tours, alongside Chris Froome.

The 33-year-old, winner of the Vuelta a España in 2018 and stage victories at the Giro, Tour de France and Vuelta, was believed to have a contract for at least 2026, but has decided to step off the bike. In a 13-year career, he won 36 races, which also included Tirreno-Adriatico and multiple stages at Paris-Nice.

In a letter posted on social media, Yates said: "I have made the decision to retire from professional cycling.


"This may come as a surprise to many, but it is not a decision I have made lightly. I have been thinking about it for a long time, and it now feels like the right moment to step away from the sport.


"Cycling has been part of my life for as long as I can remember," he continued. "From racing on the track at the Manchester Velodrome, to competing and winning on the biggest stage and representing my country at the Olympic Games, it has shaped every chapter of my life.


"I am deeply proud of what I have managed to achieve and equally grateful for the lessons that came with it. While the victories will always stand out, the harder days and setbacks were just as important. They taught me resilience and patience, and made the successes mean even more.


"To everyone who has supported me along the way, from the staff to my teammates, your unwavering belief and loyalty made it possible for me to realise my own dreams," Yates wrote. "Whenever I doubted myself, you never did. Thank you.


"To my team, Visma–Lease a Bike, thank you for your understanding and support of my decision to stop now. You gave me the opportunity to rewrite my history, and through trust and belief, we did it together. Thank you.


"To my family, you shared the sacrifices that came with this sport. The absences and missed birthdays were never easy, yet you understood what this journey meant to me and supported it wholeheartedly. I owe you more than I can ever properly express. Thank you.


He concluded: "I step away from professional cycling with deep pride and a sense of peace. This chapter has given me more than I ever imagined. Memories and moments that will stay with me long after the racing ends and for whatever comes next.

Thank you for the journey."

Visma's head of racing, Grischa Niermann said: "With Simon, we won the Giro d’Italia last year, an incredibly special achievement for both him and the team. That was one of the major goals of the season, for us as a team and for Simon personally. The fact that he also went on to win a stage in the Tour de France underlines his class. It is a shame that he is stopping now, but he does so at an absolute high point.

"Simon was an exceptional climber and general classification rider who always delivered when it mattered most. In the Giro, he peaked at a moment when almost no one expected him to be able to win anymore, which truly characterizes him as a rider."

Yates, from Bury in the northwest of England, began racing through is club, Bury Clarion, before joining what was then Orica–GreenEDGE in 2014 with his twin brother Adam. He spent 11 years with the Australian squad, which became Jayco AlUla, before moving to Visma-Lease a Bike for 2025, which turned out to be his last year as a pro cyclist.

During his time at GreenEDGE, Yates won stages at all three Grand Tours, including three at the 2018 Giro as he mounted a famous charge for overall victory. This fell short, as he heartbreakingly lost the pink jersey to Chris Froome on stage 19, but he bounced back, winning that year's Vuelta. Separately, in 2016 he was given a reduced four-month suspension from competition by the UCI  for a 'non-intentional' violation after a positive test for Terbutaline.

He returned to the Giro in 2025 with his new team, and had a redemptive day on the Colle delle Finestre, riding away to become only the third British winner of the Italian Grand Tour.

The 33-year-old's last victory was stage 10 of last year's Tour de France, and his final race was the GP de Montréal in September. As well as his road success, he was also a world champion on the track, winning the points race at the 2013 Track World Championships.

This feature originally appeared in our Cycling Weekly's Review of the Year on 18 December 2025. Subscribe now and never miss an issue. Simon Yates announced his retirement at the beginning of January 2026.

It was one of the most amazing redemption stories in recent cycling history. Seven years after cracking on the same climb and losing the Giro d’Italia with two days remaining, Simon Yates returned to the Colle delle Finestre and, this time, rode himself into the lead on the penultimate stage. The symmetry was striking: the place that once cost him a Grand Tour became the setting for his eventual triumph in that same race.

Yates later admitted that he had, in fact, anticipated the way the stage might unfold. “You won’t believe me, but… the whole stage went how I expected it to go,” he recently said at Rouleur Live.

With Isaac Del Toro and Richard Carapaz first and second on GC, separated by 43 seconds and preoccupied with each other, Yates seized the moment. While they marked each other’s moves, he was able to ride clear and take a win shaped as much by patience and experience as by superior climbing ability.

To understand the magnitude and uniqueness of what Yates accomplished, we must first rewind a couple of years to the prequel, then return to the events that set the stage for ‘Finestre With Avengeance’. Back in 2018, Yates was a swashbuckling 25-year-old, attacking repeatedly as he chased stage victories. In doing so, he was an antidote to the formulaic GC riding style that had been established by Team Sky.

Arguably a forerunner to Tadej Pogačar, Yates was altogether more exciting than what had gone before. At that year’s Giro d’Italia, he took pink on stage six, then claimed three stage victories in just seven days. Going into the final rest day, he held a lead of 2:11 over Tom Dumoulin and appeared to be in control. But then things fell apart.

Yates lost over a minute to Dumoulin and Chris Froome in the stage 16 time trial, then ceded a further 30 seconds on stage 18’s summit finish. A day later, on the Colle delle Finestre, a part-gravel climb, a suffering (and ill, it would later turn out) Yates was ambushed by a marauding Froome.

The more experienced Brit attacked 80km out and held on to complete an incredible victory, while Yates lost a whopping 39 minutes and tumbled from first to 21st in the standings. It was a crushing defeat.

Though Yates bounced back to win that year’s Vuelta a España – his first Grand Tour triumph – the scars of Finestre never fully healed. Four times he returned to the Corsa Rosa, achieving third-place and a spot on the podium in 2021, but the win continued to elude him. A change of team at the end of 2024, from Jayco-AlUla to Visma-Lease a Bike, provided the platform to finally avenge 2018's bitter disappointment.

Anyone's race

The 2025 Giro was notable for the openness of its field of competitors. There were at least a dozen riders capable of achieving a podium. When Primož Roglič and Juan Ayuso, the two leading favourites, started to falter in the second week, the door swung open for a multitude of possible winners.

Del Toro, only 21, took the lead on stage nine, and by stage 14 it was clear that it was a three-way fight between the young Mexican, the steady-away Yates and the forever-attacking Carapaz. By stage 20 it had stretched out further and appeared to be, at most, a two-horse race; Del Toro’s lead over Carapaz was 43 seconds, with Yates 38 seconds back in third.

On the massage table the night before, Yates and his Visma sports director Marc Reef discussed their strategy.

“What we noticed when Simon was second behind Del Toro in the GC [for three stages] was that Del Toro was really, really focused on Simon. Every move [Simon] did, Del Toro went with him, and the rest had more freedom,” Reef told CW.

“When Carapaz jumped over Simon in the GC, Del Toro’s focus switched to Carapaz. We suspected this could give Simon more freedom on the Finestre – Del Toro now saw Carapaz as his closest competitor and would focus on him.”

Yates agreed. “I need these guys to look at each other. I need a gap,” Yates recalled saying to Reef. “It was my only chance. I needed that moment of hesitation.” And that’s exactly what happened.

Fire on the Finestre

At the foot of the Finestre – the day’s penultimate climb, ahead of the finish at Sestrière – Carapaz’s EF Education-EasyPost team opted to take the race to Del Toro and UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

“We didn't want Del Toro and UAE to control everything like they had the day before when he always had four or five teammates with him,” Carapaz later told The Athletic. “So the plan on the Finestre was to break the race in the first kilometre, to try everything and make them play their cards. To isolate Del Toro was our first objective. And, well, we did that, didn’t we? There was chaos where Del Toro, me, and Yates were left alone from the third kilometre onwards.”

Yates, who initially couldn’t keep pace with Carapaz and Del Toro after the former’s first attack, and found himself 20 seconds adrift. The Brit found his way back up to the duo, now fixated on one another, then awaited the team’s prompt to make his move.

“It was important that Simon felt the trust from us that he had the freedom to find his moment,” said Reef. Five kilometres into the 18km climb, Yates attacked. He was reeled back – once, twice and then again. But the fourth time he disappeared up the road, with Del Toro appearing to let him go.

Fabio Baldato, the UAE sports director, explained their tactics: “Our race strategy was for Isaac to mark Carapaz because we thought he’d attack hard.” Del Toro, speaking to GCN Español a few months later, confirmed that plan: “The one who had shown the legs and the intention was Carapaz, and on the radio they were telling me to be more concerned with him, so I focused more on him.”

This played perfectly into Visma’s hands, with Yates given free rein to go clear. Carapaz repeatedly tried to shake Del Toro, but the younger of the two stuck to his wheel obdurately. “He was so obsessed with me,” Carapaz said. Baldato attempted to alert the young Mexican: “Halfway up the climb, we tried to tell and encourage Isaac to think about Simon, too.” It went unheeded.

At the top of the Finestre, Yates had a lead of 1:37, giving him a virtual GC lead of 16 seconds. Del Toro could still have won the Giro, but Visma had an ace card up their sleeve: Wout van Aert was up the road as a satellite rider.

“Wout is always the guy who puts his hand up to help,” Reef said. “When you make a plan like that, he always takes on the responsibility to be an important teammate. We knew we needed to have someone like Wout over the climb to support Simon.”

Yates joined Van Aert with 19.6km remaining, and it was effectively game over. “Wout being there, I think it cracked the other two,” Yates said. “It wasn't just his physical power, it was the mental aspect.” Del Toro claimed that “due to the stressful situation, I forgot that there was a rider, Van Aert, up the road. It was a momentary tactical error [of] forgetting the details.”

Remembering the moment he found out that Yates had Van Aert in support, Carapaz said: “Isaac came and asked me for help. I told him: ‘Man, the race is over now, I can’t do anything more. I’m sorry’.”

Full circle

As Yates and Van Aert pedalled furiously to the line, Del Toro and Carapaz sat up, admitting defeat. Yates turned a 1:21 deficit into a 3:56 winning margin, becoming only the second British man after Froome to win two Grand Tours. Was it won by his initiative, or had Del Toro thrown it away?

The UAE inquest is still ongoing, with Del Toro and his team at odds as to who was to blame. “When two people argue, someone else wins,” Baldato sighed.

For Yates, the post-race debate about who erred and who excelled is largely irrelevant. What matters is that, on the mountain that once ended his Giro dream, he finally brought the story full circle.

“Once the route was released, I always had in the back of mind that I could come here [Finestre] and close the chapter,” he said. The boy from Bury is now permanently tied to the climb that shaped both his greatest disappointment and his defining triumph. “Nothing will ever beat that, not just in cycling, but in my whole life.”

I very much enjoyed the penultimate stage of the Giro d’Italia this year, as Simon Yates carried out one of the great cycle-racing burglaries of recent years on the very climb where he had a Giro title snatched out of his grasp in 2018.

There were many reasons to love it – there was Drama! Redemption! Gravel! – but the best of it was the stand-off between Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz. I wouldn’t want to diminish the excellent ambush Yates and Wout van Aert sprang, but there was a long section of the race where Del Toro and Carapaz performed a cycling version of Waiting for Godot:

"Someone ought to chase.”

“Yes, someone definitely ought to chase.”

(Stage direction: Neither of them chases.)

Amid the hoohah about the team tactics, and the foolishness of letting a Grand Tour slip away while you look at another rider, I’d like to point out that what Del Toro and Carapaz were doing is the essence of cycling. “Someone else should do it,” is our mantra.

My first road races, for instance, were in a local league where the teams were small, where their members didn’t like each other anyway, and no one was being paid to pretend otherwise. No one did a pedal stroke for anyone else. They didn’t even do a stroke for themselves if there was a chance it might benefit someone else. We’d all take it in turn to attack one at a time from start to finish, and the winner was the one lucky enough to be off the front when the line arrived. It was like musical chairs with crashes.

It’s not just in races. On a winter ride just a few months ago, my friend Bernard and I watched a mutual acquaintance make one of the most incompetent puncture repairs that I’ve ever witnessed. Either of us could have done it in a third the time. Either of us could have lent him a working pump.

But we glared at each other instead, willing the other to take off their nice warm gloves and assist. We were there for about forty minutes, enjoying zero-sum hypothermia while all prospect of a nice morning’s ride danced off up the road like Simon Yates.

It can be the same at the café. These days at a café-stop I generally just look after myself. That’s the result of a flat-white stand off a few years ago, where I and Bernard both sat at a table and just looked at each other, each certain in our own minds that it was the other’s turn to buy the drinks.

If you’re a member of a club, you’ll have seen a similar phenomenon there. Why do you think it’s so difficult to get anyone to marshal a club race? Or run the beginners’ club run? Or book a venue for a club social? That’s right. All these tasks should be undertaken by someone else. Other people have more energy and more time. Other people are better suited to this sort of thing. It’s very much the job of people like me to wait till they’ve done the hard work, then sashay in at the last moment, do the minimum possible, and demand as much credit as we can get. I like to think of this as “sprinting”.

While Del Toro and Carapaz might have managed to lose the Giro, they can take much comfort from the fact that they went down not so much fighting, as looking at each other. It is the true cycling way. They’ll be remembered for it long after we’ve forgotten exactly who it was who vanished up the road in a blaze of honest industry, just like a marathon runner or some other inferior sort of athlete.

How to celebrate

Celebrations are part of winning in cycling – arms in the air, all of that. However, it’s not as straightforward as it looks.

The first thing to do, and I can’t emphasise this too much, is to make sure you’ve won. There are many, many ways of making a tit of yourself celebrating, and none is more amusing for literally everyone else in the world than celebrating when a) there’s a lap to go and you have to wrap it up fast and get riding again, or b) there are riders up the road, and you’ve just gone bananas over 12^th place and have to pretend that was exactly what you wanted.

The second thing to do is not fall off. That is also instant legend status – although unless you combine it with the first mistake, at least you’ll have the comfort of being a winner who looks like an idiot, rather than a loser who looks like one.

Assuming you manage all of the above, if you’re putting both arms up, try to get them symmetrical. If you don’t, you look as if you were too tired to get the second arm up far enough, and what you’re aiming for is to look effortlessly superior, not like a knackered bike rider who only just got to the line in time. Same with zipping up your jersey.

Don’t mime anything weird – making a phone call, rocking a baby, pointing at your big tactical brain. No one will understand it.

Acts of cycling stupidity

An informant tells me about his mother who has, for many years gone out for a ride most weeks with a friend – they used to race against each other in the 1980s, and the competitive spirit hasn’t totally died.

The friend recently bought an e-bike, while recovering from an operation. For the first few months it was just a playing field leveller. More recently, it’s been more of a weapon, used to set an unreasonably fast pace on the climbs.

So recently, by dark of night, my informant’s mother snuck into her friend’s garage before a ride and disconnected the charger on the bike. She plugged it in again early in the morning, so there was some charge, but not enough for the whole ride. She says the moment when it ran out, leaving her companion far from home with just a very, very heavy bike, was highly satisfying.

Simon Yates strolled into a packed Visma-Lease a Bike press conference on the eve of the Tour de France with most assuming he is set to play a supporting role to Jonas Vingegaard across the next three weeks.

Just weeks ago, the Bury-born rider dramatically turned the tables on Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at the Giro d’Italia, banishing his demons on the Colle delle Finestre to pull the maglia rosa from the shoulders of the young Mexican at the last minute. But Yates has never realistically come close to winning the Tour; his teammate, Vingegaard, has won two.

The 32-year-old is in the form of his life, seemingly, after that successful Giro. While he told the gathered media that he is "under no illusions" regarding his apparent position in the team, he also did not rule out the possibility of aiming for GC.

“I'm not going to purposely lose time, unless something happens, because you never know,” Yates said. "I think we'll maybe keep the option open. But Jonas is the man."

In all of his appearances at the Tour to date, Yates led Jayco-AlUla with free reign in the mountains to chase stage wins, something he did twice in 2019. Yates has not yet ridden with Jonas Vingegaard since making the switch to Visma in the off season, but he said he was relishing the chance to ride with a "big champion".

"I've never really done that role, to be honest," he said, referencing his new identity as a support rider in a Grand Tour. "I'm not, let's say, afraid to do that role, I think I can do a really good job, but it will be something new for me. Earlier in the year, I was supposed to ride with him at the Volta a Catalunya, but I think after the set back he had in Paris-Nice it didn't happen. But we'll make it work."

"I've only really been with him on certain training camps, in Tignes and at the start of the year," he added. "He's a really easy person to work with, relaxed, but very professional. He just covers all the details, as you would expect from somebody of such a high level and to race with him, I'm actually quite looking forward to it, racing with him."

Yates has had little time to celebrate his Giro win, with his suitcases barely unpacked before he was heading off to Tignes to prepare for the Tour.

"It sounds ridiculous, but I'm still in disbelief that I managed to pull it off," Yates said. "Morale is high, and hopefully, I can continue with those feelings for the rest of this race, too."

Wout van Aert put in a "career best performance" in order to deliver Simon Yates to Giro d’Italia victory, according to his team's head of performance.

Visma-Lease a Bike's Mathieu Heijboer told Cycling Weekly on Monday that Van Aert's showing on the Colle delles Finestre was proof of the unity in the team, as they powered towards Giro success.

After making the day's breakaway on stage 20, the Classics specialist was ready and waiting to put in a huge turn in the valley road to pull Yates closer to the stage finish in Sestriere - Yates had already attacked on the slopes of the penultimate climb.

Heijboer did not reveal any data from Van Aert's ride, but said that it was like nothing he had seen before from the Belgian.

"Wout van Aert did a one hour career best performance actually," Heijboer said as he reflected on Visma's stage 20 display. "He never rode faster for one hour than on the Finestre. He did all of that to make it over the top so he could support Simon in the last 15 kilometres and I think that says it all."

He added: "That togetherness and shared commitment, shared goal, is something we create in the preparation for the race and that has really paid off for us, especially in the last stage."

Speaking on Monday, Yates's former British Cycling mentor Keith Lambert told CW that he felt the Briton had ridden a "stealthy" race, enabling him to fly under the radar and keep himself in contention during a frenetic opening week, which closed off with a gravel stage into Siena.

Heijboer agreed with the sentiment, reiterating that a strong showing from the entire team had enabled their man to achieve his goal.

He said: "Simon did a super good climb on the Finestre, but when you look at the Giro as a whole, I think as a team we really brought him in every time into a good position and he profited a lot from our other goals, like sprinting with Olav Kooij.

"We couldn’t complain about the luck we had in the stage to Slovenia when a lot of guys crashed, but it was the quality of our group as a team that kept us in front."

The pink jersey, the Trofeo Senza Fine, and a meeting with Pope Leo XIV would be enough for most people, but Simon Yates is deserving of more - a BBC Sports Personality of the Year nomination no less, according to his former cycling club's treasurer.

In a dramatic turn of events, the 32-year-old achieved Giro d'Italia redemption on the slopes of the Colle delle Finestre on Saturday, turning this year's race back in his favour on the penultimate stage in the Italian Alps.

After Sunday's trophy lift and podium events, Monday saw Yates attend a Giro d'Italia media call in Rome, but the celebrations will not last long - the Visma-Lease a Bike rider is set to ride the Tour de France in support of Jonas Vingegaard.

Bury Clarion Cycling Club's Nick Hall has known the Yates family since Simon and Adam joined the club as teenagers, and told Cycling Weekly on Monday that Simon's latest achievement surpassed anything else.

"It's absolutely incredible, talk about redemption," he said. "It was just amazing, the more you think about it the bigger the achievement seems to be. It's his crowning moment, without a doubt. You've got Bradley Wiggins, possibly the most famous British cyclist there's ever been, he put everything into trying to win the Giro and didn't get anywhere near winning it. So for Simon to go and do that, a little lad from Bury, is just amazing, it really is."

He added: "What he has achieved will probably go a little bit under the radar, because of who they are and how they are with the media sometimes. But he really should be up there as a contender for BBC Sports Personality of the Year after this, I do believe that."

"In the general scheme of things, the Giro is the second biggest race in the world," he said. "If you compare it to golf, which has got four majors, cycling has got three majors - so for Simon to have won two of them is just remarkable. It's almost on a par with Rory McIlroy's achievements in golf."

Hall's phone sprung into life - including with messages from Yates's parents - once Simon crossed the line in Sestriere, all but confirming his second Grand Tour win.

"Sue was understandably very emotional, I think John tried to keep it bottled in a bit," Hall said. "Even on Saturday after that stage he was saying: 'It's not over yet, I'm not celebrating until after tomorrow' you never know what can happen, I guess. But they’re both absolutely over the moon as you can imagine."

"I think they had it on in their house on several different channels, the laptop, everything," he continued. "I think sometimes John has to go and sit in the garden and wait until it's all finished because he feels too nervous to watch it all unfold."

The latest achievement from one of Bury's own will be the talk of the town, in cycling terms anyway, for now, Hall said.

"We've actually got a Bury Clarion club meeting on Monday evening," he explained. "Obviously that'll now be the main topic of conversation, so it could be a long meeting. I think most people will be driving but we'll still have time for a quick beer to celebrate I’m sure."

"We have a junior section called Bury Clarion Bullets," he added. "It will be great for them to have someone like that who they can look up to. We have a few promising young racers and this will inspire them to think that if they've got the talent and they put in the effort and hard work then they can possibly go a long long way in the sport."

His coach at Visma-Lease a Bike, Mathieu Heijboer, explained that the party can't last for too long - the Tour is just a month away.

"He needs some time off now mentally to recharge the battery so he can then come back to us ready to fight again across three weeks at the Tour de France," he said. "On a physical level he can’t sit still for too long because we’ll need to work again on some basic endurance, dropping the shape a bit and bringing it back on towards July.

"We’ll go to altitude in about two weeks again as a team and bring Simon there too. That’s because we feel as a group that it’s very important to bring the Tour de France team together to speak about the stages, the strategy and things like that, but also importantly to help create a bond between all of the riders in the build up."

The oft-repeated cliché is that you couldn't write the script - that the action is too unbelievable to be predicted. The irony being, obviously, that most of the time it absolutely could be written; it's rare for something truly absurd or novel to happen.

It was a cliché uttered multiple times on TV on Saturday as Simon Yates stormed towards the pink jersey on stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia, after he attacked on the Colle delle Finestre and dropped his podium rivals. The same Colle delle Finestre where in 2018 Yates suffered on that year's stage 19 of the Giro, as Chris Froome flew to a famous victory.

However, you absolutely could and would write this script. Yates returning to the scene of his most infamous collapse, and turning it completely around was ripe for the page. It was real, though - the redemptive arc saw the Visma-Lease a Bike rider not just banish his demons, showing that he can succeed on the Finestre, but well and truly exorcise them. If you were writing a script for Yates before the Giro, the moment of triumph would, of course, come here. From pain to glory.

He wept tears of joy at the end of the race, barely believing the moment himself, but it was done. No one needs to remind him of his failure at the Giro anymore, instead his success. Script flipped.

“I’ve never ridden it since,” Yates said of the Finestre pre-race. “It’s a long, long way away and we’ll see how we get there, but for sure it will maybe be emotional to be back. It’s a moment in my career that’s ever present, let’s say. Let’s see what happens this time.” What happened will go down in cycling's history books.

"Once the route was released I always had in the back of my mind that I could come here and close a chapter, maybe not to take the jersey and the race, but at least a stage," he told TNT Sports post-stage. "[I wanted to] show myself the way I know I can do. To pull it off, I really didn’t believe. I have to thank the guys in my team because they really believed in me, even during the stage.

"[With] 200m to go, I was on the radio asking for the time gap, because I never truly believed until the very last moment, I’m speechless really."

"It’s still sinking in," he continued. "I’m not an emotional person, but I couldn’t hold back the tears. This is something I’ve worked towards throughout my career, year after year. There have been a lot of setbacks, so yeah, finally managed to pull it off."

At the start of stage 20, Yates trailed race leader Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) by 1:21, and second-placed Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) by 38 seconds. There had been barely a point across the three weeks where Yates had seemed this much better than the pair above him in the general classification; Del Toro looked steady, and Carapaz looked like the most likely to benefit from any cracks in the Mexican's armour. Yates had ridden a great Giro, but a podium would have been enough, and this is how it appeared to be settled.

He was not ready to accept this situation. After an initial Carapaz attack on the Finestre, covered by Del Toro, Yates moved up to the duo with about 40km to go of the stage, 10km to the top, and then moved off the front once, then a second time. It wasn't a vicious attack, like Carapaz has tried so many times at this race, but it was a solid, steady move. Del Toro and Carapaz watched each other, and occasionally came close to closing the gap, but it wasn't to be. The gap kept growing.

While the Spanish-speaking pair behind waited for each other to chase Yates, the Briton up the road just pushed on, and was in the virtual race lead as he crested the highest climb of this year's race. With the assistance of the ultimate domestique de luxe, Wout van Aert, in the valley between the Finestre and the final climb to Sestrière, the gap for Yates only extended, until it was at a level the man from Bury could only dream of.

"It’s incredible," Van Aert told Eurosport post-stage. "I don't think we thought about this this morning. Such a brave effort from Simon to go all in from so far. I love it when people are not racing for a place of honour. Chapeau to him.

"Once I was in the break and we had such an advantage I knew I had a chance to make it over the Finestre. Of course I’m happy that I’m valuable, but it’s an effort of the whole team."

Forget any recriminations over how Carapaz and Del Toro let the Giro slip out of their grasp, which seemed as much an issue of tactics as not having the legs, this was Yates' victory ride. By the end of the day, his lead was 3:56; he rode the Finestre in 59 minutes and 23 seconds, the fastest-ever time.

A lot has happened in the seven years since he last was in the race lead at the Giro, since he last pulled on the maglia rosa. Yates is now 32, and this is his first season as a professional at a team which isn't Jayco AlUla. A pandemic has come and gone, as have American presidents, and he has returned to redemption.

He won the Vuelta a España the year he narrowly lost the Giro, in 2018, and has since gone on to record solid results at multiple Grand Tours - third at the Giro in 2021, fourth at the Tour de France in 2023 - but this is the true vindication. Simon Yates, Giro d'Italia winner. He wrote the story.

This feature initially appeared in the 1 May edition of Cycling Weekly magazine. You can set up your subscription now to ensure you don't miss an issue.

"It was like one of those mirages that you see in old cowboy films," says Keith Lambert, former U23 head coach at British Cycling. Speaking to me from his North Yorkshire home, he is recalling the moment, circa 2009, when he first laid eyes on the Yates twins in a bike race. As a seasoned coach, Lambert had seen plenty of fledgling talents and usually knew within a few pedal strokes who was going to make it. On the Friday evening in question, he had driven to Colne, Lancashire, to watch a local youth criterium – and initially worried he was seeing double.

"These two riders were going round in the same kit, on the same bikes, they were the same size, everything. They just rode away from everybody that day and were far ahead of the competition, even then. I remember they ended up first and second after lapping the field a few times."

It would be years before Adam and Simon Yates regularly competed in different kits, allowing fans and commentators to easily tell them apart. In their early years, the twins were almost inseparable – aside from a brief spell after Simon joined the British Cycling Academy while Adam, backed by the Dave Rayner Foundation, raced on the road in France. Now, 11 years after turning professional together with Orica-GreenEdge (now Jayco-Alula) and spending several seasons as teammates, the boys from Bury are once again racing for different teams. This May, they will both line up at the Giro d’Italia – a race Simon nearly won in 2018.

Despite their shared DNA and parallel rise to the top of the sport, Adam and Simon, now aged 32, have carved out subtly different paths. Understanding their differences in personality and temperament isn’t easy, not least because both shy away from the limelight. My interview requests – to UAE Emirates-XRG for Adam, and to Visma-Lease a Bike for Simon – were both eventually declined. This was reluctance on the brothers’ part, I suspect, rather than stonewalling from their teams. The Yates brothers may not want to comment on it, but the divergence in their career paths is now more fascinating now than ever. And if they wouldn’t talk to us, we’d just have to ask the people who know them best.

Weetabix eating contests and Call of Duty sessions

We begin with former Conti-level pro, 31-year-old Chris Latham, a childhood friend of the brothers, who joins our scheduled Zoom call grinning mischievously. "I've just texted them both now," he says in a broad Lancashire accent. "I've told them I want at least 10 grand off the pair of them for not chucking them under the bus in this," he says, bursting into laughter, clearly relishing the opportunity to talk candidly about two of his closest mates.

"They've always been tight and got on well. I remember they shared a room as kids and just smashed Call of Duty, Haribo and Lucozade all the time." Latham frequently visited the Yateses. "I lived in Bolton, only 10 miles away from them in Bury," he says. "I'd ride over to their place, go on a ride with them, and after getting battered by their dad on our bikes, we'd play Call of Duty for hours. It was quality, growing up together."

What about sibling rivalry as cycling began to replace video games – were the twins as serious back then as they often appear in interviews now? I begin to recount how James Knox once told Cycling Weekly that the Yates brothers were "hilarious" and had him "howling at the dinner table" during pre-Tokyo Olympics training in 2020, when Latham interrupts: "Oh mate, they were always chucking banter about," he says, cracking up again – supporting Knox's characterisation of the pair. "They'd compete against each other anyway, just for a laugh – whether it was how many Weetabix they could eat, or racing their bikes at the weekend. There's always a good laugh wherever those two are."

Admitting that it’s hard to imagine the Yateses as party animals, I ask Latham to provide an example. He bursts out laughing again. "They love red wine, as they think they're posh now," he jokes, "but the thing is, we used to go down to Sainsbury's most nights as kids and get a bottle of wine for a fiver – but now it's the fine wine menu with them." He recounts a recent night out and his horror as the brothers began perusing expensive bottles on the wine list. "I told them to get a grip, behave and get something cheaper."

Now that Latham had confirmed that the Yates brothers certainly don’t deserve their staid, serious image, it was time to talk about the origins of their competitive drive in more detail. After a few email exchanges with members of Bury Clarion – the brothers’ first club – I boarded a train bound for Manchester. How had the twins stayed so close despite competing for rival teams? Has this ever led to tensions? I wanted to better understand two of the most underappreciated men in the sport.

My first stop is lunch in Bury with Nick Hall, a longstanding family friend of the Yates family. "I first met Simon and Adam out on a ride," Hall recalls, pausing to sip his tea. "There were probably only half a dozen of us, and they must have only been about 12 or 13." I ask if that was unusual – kids so young joining a Saturday club run with their dad and his mates?

"Well yes, my first reaction was 'what are these two kids doing coming out with us older blokes?'" he says. "But then you got to a hill and they started racing off up it, leaving us all thinking, 'hang on, what the hell are we doing out with them?' It was obvious they were very good." Hall remembers Adam and Simon being naturally competitive, though always in a good-natured way. Even back then, their ambitions were crystal clear. "I remember talking to them on another early ride. Most local kids would say 'I want to play for Man United,' but with Simon and Adam it was always professional cycling. They told me they wanted to be cyclists and ride the Tour de France."

After lunch, Hall offers me a lift to the nearest tram stop and we continue our conversation on the way. He points out several local landmarks, including the street that the Yates family still calls home. I had hoped to speak with the twins' parents, John and Sue – having had a pleasant chat with them during a chance encounter at the 2023 Tour de France – but Hall tells me they prefer to avoid media interactions. It’s nothing personal, he assures me. "I think Sue would probably do more interviews, but it's just not John’s cup of tea," he explains. Do they fear being misquoted? "Not really," says Hall. “They’re just very private people."

Working in close proximity with a sibling is liable to cause friction, so I ask Hall if he remembers hearing any instances of Simon and Adam clashing as their careers were taking off. With a laugh, he insists that these two siblings really are as close as they seem. "They have just always understood each other, and they have fairly similar personalities," he says. "They're both very cool and laid-back, and that's genuinely how they’ve always been." Not even teenage squabbles on the club run? "No, not at all," he says.

Listening to Hall, it's becoming clear that the twins, in their younger days, really were as Chris Latham described them. I remember speaking to Simon in Canada last September: he had told me he didn't want to finalise the details of his transfer to Visma until he'd had a chance to talk through the details with his "best mate", Adam. "We always discuss everything together," he said.

Face value

A picture is emerging of two siblings who really are as close as they seem. Hall describes the humble, cohesive family unit that kept them grounded, the "two up, two down" house, and the "down-to-earth" parents. Did this background ensure they would remain modest and unassuming? "I think it all comes from John and Sue and their manner," he says. "It's just how the boys have always been brought up – they all know each other inside-out and are very close as a family."

I steer the conversation back to cycling. Simon's Vuelta win in 2018 automatically placed him among cycling's greats – while Adam's best Grand Tour result is third in the 2023 Tour de France. Hall insists that this has never provoked any jealousy or tension, reiterating a point also made by Keith Lambert: through good and bad times, the brothers have always had each other's backs. As an example, he tells me that Adam fiercely defended his twin in 2016 after Simon tested positive for the asthma drug Terbutaline (the team blamed an "administrative error").

The twins have now spent several years on rival teams, and who can forget their dramatic one-two finish on the opening day of the 2023 Tour de France. Latham, Hall and Lambert all draw attention to that moment, recalling having their hearts in their mouths. But it wasn't the first time they had gone one-two in a major bike race. Back in 2013, the brothers finished first and second on a key mountain stage in the Tour de l’Avenir, with Simon taking the win.

In my conversation with Latham, I hypothesised that it could happen again this May – would Adam attack even if the overall lead were at stake for Simon? There will be no favours given, insists Latham. "When it comes to cycling, they are absolutely zoned-in," he says. "It's as simple as that, they don’t fuck about. They're absolute best mates, but they'd always let their legs decide in any race scenario. They're proper bike racers in that sense – that's just who they are and always will be."

In a wide open field of general classification contenders, could it be Simon Yates who wins the 2025 Giro d’Italia?

Making his first Grand Tour appearance for Visma-Lease a Bike, in the race he came so heartbreakingly close to winning in 2018, Yates is back at the Italian race for a sixth time.

Though the likes of Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) are deemed the favourites to win the maglia rosa, in the absence of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard the race for pink is expected to be far more competitive than recent editions of the Tour de France, for example.

Profiting from the lack of a dominating rider could be Yates. “I’ll be trying to do the best GC possible, but at the moment I’m not gonna put a name on what that is exactly. Hopefully that’s high-up in the top-10,” said the 32-year-old, who finished third in the 2021 edition and has six Giro stage wins to his name.

“I saw something the other day that there were quite a few previous winners of the Giro here, so it’s a pretty stacked GC in that regard.” It’s true, as well as himself and Roglič, former Giro champions Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) are also competing.

“But there aren’t any standout guys like Jonas or Pogačar here, so it’s going to be hard racing. With so many guys here with previous experience of winning Grand Tours, it’s going to be interesting."

As ever, Yates expects to put time into some of his rivals in the mountains, but to cede time elsewhere. “In the time trials you can lose or gain a lot there, but it really depends on the parcours so you have to be focused and switched on, especially in this Giro. You can never really win this race early doors, but you can lose it.”

After the race’s start in Albania, the first major test for the peloton will be a mountain-top summit finish on stage seven, and then stage nine's foray onto the gravel roads of Strade Bianche. “It neither scares me or excites me,” Yates said of the dusty white roads. “It’s not my favourite type of parcours, but it should be OK. We have a strong team for that stage to try to protect me.”

Yates has only ridden twice for his new team since joining in the winter, performing steadily if unremarkably at March’s Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta a Catalunya. To date, he’s content with his decision to switch teams after 11 years with the GreenEdge team.

“It’s been good so far. I was there or thereabouts, around the top-10 [in the aforementioned races] but my main goal has always been the Giro for this part of the year," he said. "I feel in good shape and like I said before it’s a big change from what I was used to do with Jayco, but something I needed to make.

“There have been more training camps and I’ve been to altitude. Going to altitude isn’t nothing new, but for a long time I was doing my own altitude camps, but with this team they’re very organised and very dialled in. I hope it’s going to make a small difference.”

Though Yates has happy memories of Grand Tour racing – he recovered from Giro heartache in 2018 to win that year’s Vuelta a España – he has also suffered his fair share of misfortune. He knows that the key to performing well in the forthcoming 21 stages is as much down to Lady Luck as it is his own condition.

“With my records in Grand Tours, I’ve had a lot of bad luck over the years, and even in last year’s Tour de France I got Covid early doors,” he said. “I’m just going to do the best performance I can. I need to make it through without any bad luck.

“The Giro is more out of control, there’s more real racing and anything can happen. The weather can change dramatically which can affect the race and make the difference too. You just have to take everything in your stride and really get on and deal with it.”

Stage 20 of the race, the last day to make a difference, will see the Giro peloton cross over the Colle delle Finestre, the setting of Yates’s toughest moment in his career, when he spectacular lost the lead of pink in 2018, and his compatriot Chris Froome launched a blistering, race-winning attack 80km before the finishing line.

“I’ve never ridden it since,” Yates confirmed. “It’s a long, long way away and we’ll see how we get there, but for sure it will maybe be emotional to be back. It’s a moment in my career that’s ever present, let’s say. Let’s see what happens this time.”

The start of the Giro d’Italia is just five weeks away, but it already looks set to become a two-way scrap between Primož Roglič and Juan Ayuso, a clash of two of the sport’s biggest teams, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. Tadej Pogačar’s absence from the startlist has opened the door to a range of different riders looking to contest the race. However, Roglič and Ayuso are already pulling away from the competition after both making an exceptional start to the year.

The latter may have started his season later than the Slovenian, although he has already got 17 race days in the legs compared to Roglič’s 12 days of competition, picking up victories in both the Faun Drome Classic and Trofeo Laigueglia before sealing the overall win at Tirreno-Adriatico.

On paper, his start to the new campaign is impressive, particularly as that was then followed up with a second overall finish, victory in the youth classification and an individual stage win at the Volta a Catalunya. But Roglič, who is 13 years his senior, seemingly holds the upper hand and will have the cutting edge once the race gets underway as he goes in search of a second Giro title.

While he will have been undoubtedly disappointed with his low key start in Portugal, Roglič’s form coming out of Catalunya appears to be razor sharp and was underscored by his dominant performance on the final stage into Barcelona which he won convincingly to seal his overall triumph.

It is worth mentioning that Roglič emphatically winning week long stage races is nothing new - he has won 12 since beginning his career almost ten years ago - but his performance in Catalunya was a statement of intent and proof that despite being 35 he still has what it takes to dominate and perform at the highest level for a while longer yet.

It would have been easy to speculate and cast doubt on his ambitions for the Giro after he was bested by Ayuso on stage three at La Molina. The Slovenian simply never loses an uphill sprint, so much so that his trademark race-winning attack gained a name - Roglification. Many of the best GC riders currently competing on the men’s WorldTour have fallen afoul of such a move, although Ayuso took on the master at his own game in Catalunya.

Roglič’s final day showing blended tactical nous, outright force and clever race craft as he attacked from range to seal the win after hoovering up some of the mid-race bonus seconds on offer. "I had to do something. I always say that Catalunya is an honest race where the legs are talking. But I really didn't have a great feeling until the last stage," Roglič said afterwards before going on to warn that he felt the result "doesn't really influence the outcome of the Giro".

That may be so, but try telling that to the likes of Egan Bernal, Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz, three riders who will all be hoping to compete in Italy but who all finished more than a minute down on yours truly.

Anything can happen in the Corsa Rosa and the race can suddenly turn on its head - as proved by Chris Froome in 2018 - but recent showings have proved that Yates, Carapaz, Bernal, and the best of the rest are going to have their work cut out to get on the podium, let alone the top step which seems to be reserved for the two main protagonists in Spain.

Make no mistake, Roglič has the experience that age provides on his side, but Ayuso possesses the innocence of youth and, similarly to his famous UAE teammate, a burning desire to make a permanent mark on cycling by securing his first-ever Grand Tour victory.

The answer then, to "can anyone stop Primož Roglič or Juan Ayuso from winning the Giro d’Italia?", seems simple right now - probably not.

Visma-Lease a Bike are producing their own kit for the new season under their own Yellow B label after their partnership with Agu ended on 31 December.

The Dutch WorldTour team revealed on New Year’s Day that their kit design would remain unchanged for the new campaign, although Agu are no longer producing it. A press release issued by the team dropped a subtle mention of the Yellow B label into the discussion but did not confirm that they had taken kit production into their own hands.

Cyclingnews first highlighted that the Dutch squad appeared to be producing their own design themselves. A spokesperson for Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed to Cycling Weekly on Wednesday that the team had in fact now decided to manufacture the kit in-house.

"We have taken the production of our kit in our own hands, which is also visible by the Yellow B. logo on the kit," they said.

Picnic Post NL were the last WorldTour team to produce their own clothing brand. The team previously switched from Craft clothing to its own product, branded with the Keep Challenging team slogan. The kit was initially produced for Picnic Post NL by Bioracer before it later changed to Nalini.

Visma-Lease a Bike declined to comment when asked by Cycling Weekly if another brand was still producing the kit on their behalf.

It was reported that Agu were experiencing serious financial difficulties last year by Wielerflits. It is understood that the relationship between the brand and Visma-Lease a Bike ended by mutual agreement.

In August Agu issued a statement which explained their current situation.

"In recent months, AGU has focused fully on restoring healthy business operations," the statement read. "Thanks to the support and cooperation of all parties involved, the company has managed to turn the result around positively in the past period. AGU has successfully completed a WHOA procedure from December 2023, subject to financing."

It continued: "Unfortunately, it became apparent last week that the financing conditions could not be met. As a result, AGU was forced to apply for a moratorium on payments. In close consultation with the administrators, we are currently investigating whether the WHOA agreement can still be realised.

"AGU is an iconic name in the bicycle industry, the company has a rich history and strong brand value. AGU hopes to find a new owner/financier in the short term who can guarantee the continuation of this heritage. The business activities will continue until further notice."

Visma-Lease a Bike have signed several new riders ahead of the new season for both the men’s and women’s squads. Simon Yates joined the men’s team from Jayco-AIUla as well as Victor Campenaerts from Lotto. Yates said he took a pay cut in order to join his new team.

The team also captured the signature of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot from Ineos Grenadiers. The Frenchwoman will lead the team’s road ambitions alongside Marianne Vos.

Simon Yates says it wasn’t the offer of a huge payday that convinced him to join Visma-Lease a Bike at the end of the season. The British climber will ride for the Dutch superteam alongside Jonas Vingegaard from 2025, but he says he has actually taken a pay cut to do so. 

Ahead of the Grand Prix Cyclistes de Québec and Montréal in Canada this weekend, Yates spoke for the first time after agreeing a move to his new team. The 32-year-old explained that he had sought advice from his brother, Adam, after receiving the transfer proposal and said it was not a decision he had taken lightly. 

"I never really have had a serious opportunity to move teams actually," Yates said in Québec. "I have had some offers before, but nowhere was really that interesting like the Visma offer. So that's why I've taken it. When the announcement was made that I was making a switch, I saw a lot of comments saying that there should be salary caps. But actually, I took a pay cut to go to Visma."

"I was actively wanting to go there," Yates said as he explained that the lower salary on offer didn’t put him off. "I wanted to be part of one of the best teams. I've had 11 years of chances to do my own thing on this team. So I don't think there's anything wrong now with wanting to move on."

"I think it's an exciting opportunity," he added. "I think it was the right moment to make a change. I'm not getting any younger, I'm getting old now, but I still have motivation and I still have strong feelings in my legs so now was the time to change. 

"I think I would regret it when I finish if I didn't know what it was really like to be in one of the best teams. The proposal came and I just couldn't really miss an opportunity like that. If I stay here for another two years, three years, I'll be 35 or 36 and then it's too late."

Brotherly advice 

Yates is likely to come up against his UAE Emirates twin as a super mountain domestique for the likes of Vingegaard in the months ahead. After racing each other into Bilbao on the opening day of the 2023 Tour de France, coming up against his twin on the biggest of stages will be nothing new. Adam took the victory and the race's first yellow jersey in the Basque Country, but the brothers celebrated together as they crossed the line to complete a Yates family 1-2. 

Simon said that Adam backing him to take the plunge and sign on the Visma dotted line had been one of the final things he needed in order to make the decision to move on from Jayco. 

"It gave me confidence that it would be a good decision," he said. "We discuss pretty much everything together. He had the same opinion and said that maybe a change would be good. 

"I was joking with him, saying it's just like training. We train together every day when we're at home, and we stick it to each other there for multiple hours a day. So it'll all just be like another training day."

Yates explained that he’d already been told by the Visma hierarchy that his new role would be "a free one" meaning he is likely to be given his own chance to race in week long stage races before he then switches to a support role on other occasions. 

The huge strength in depth on his new team will also mean that a place in a Grand Tour lineup next year may not be guaranteed. Yates said this didn’t faze him in the slightest and, if anything, it provided him with yet more inspiration to raise his level to an even higher place.

He said: "If I'm not good enough to make the selection for a race, it's completely fine. If there's a logical reason, hard facts on a piece of paper, then I'll just prove myself for the next time. But that's sport in general. You've got to really believe in yourself and get amongst it so hopefully this pays off."

Yates has won ten Grand Tour stages across his time with Jayco, as well as Tirreno-Adriatico in 2021. His crowning achievement though was overall victory at the 2018 Vuelta a España. After a difficult final year with the team, impacted by several bouts of illness, he said that he was determined to end it on a high note, particularly at Sunday’s GP Montréal.

"I've only put my arms in the air once this year, and I would like to do it again one final time at least, to do it for the team. So I'm motivated for the end of the season, but it's not easy to win these days anymore."

There's a fair deal of pressure on Jayco AlUla at the Tour Down Under. It's the home stage race for the only Australian WorldTour team, they have brought a strong squad which includes a Grand Tour winner and the Australian champion, and they haven't won the race since 2019. So, naturally, they are aiming to win every stage and the overall.

Simon Yates, Caleb Ewan and Luke Plapp, with Chris Harper too, are the key members of the seven-man team seeking to conquer the Tour Down Under. Yates finished second overall last year, winning a stage en route; Ewan is a nine-time stage winner, although his last win came in 2020; meanwhile Plapp is the newly crowned Australian champion, winning it for a third time in a row just over a week before the TDU begins.

The team are in good form, with Plapp's victory in the Australian nationals road race coming ahead of two other teammates in Harper and Kelland O'Brien; Plapp's victory in the time trial also came ahead of two Jayco teammates, while Ewan won the criterium to boot.

However, Plapp was keen to play down his role before the race, talking up Ewan and Yates instead.

"Yates is the team leader and he's here for a reason," he said in the pre-race press conference. "And we've also got Caleb who is in some really red hot form. I think we saw that at Nationals as well. He's really motivated and wants to start his season off really strong. 

"To be honest, we're looking to win every single stage and the GC. I think that's a good team target, and I really feel confident that we've got a great group of riders here."

The first four stages of the race are likely to be days for sprinters, unless the breakaway spoils the day, with multiple teams interested in bunch finishes. However, they are not easy days, with stage two to Lobethal in particular looking tough.

It is the weekend where the race will be decided, though, with stage five concluding with two ascents of Willunga Hill, and stage six seeing the riders take on Mount Lofty three times.

"Yatesy is here for a reason," Plapp said. "He got second here last year and I think this course suits him even better, having Willunga. I'd love to play a part in helping him succeed and win the race. And then see how I can fare in that as well. 

"I'd love to be up there too. But at the end of the day, we are here to win. So as long as one of us is we're in that ochre jersey at the end of the week, that'd be the goal."

Plapp will also have the advantage of being in reasonably top form for the race, while some of his European peers are still working towards their shape; he also is used to the heats, and the roads.

"It does sort of feel like a bit of a home race," he explained. "I don't really need to do recons or check the courses out because I used to train on them so often. So now I'm really looking forward to it. I've got some fond memories of racing here with Richie [Porte] a couple years ago and then also to have been a part of Ineos last year racing."

Jayco are not the only team with riders in contention for victory, however. For the overall, Bahrain-Victorious are here with Jack Haig, and Soudal Quick-Step have Julian Alaphilippe, while for the sprints, there are the likes of Sam Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty).

Alaphilippe, however, was clear that while he was aiming to do well, his form is uncertain.

"I have no idea," the Frenchman explained. "I don't know but for sure I'm motivated to do my best. You never know how you will feel during the first race of the season. It will be the first big effort and also like I said with the heat, you have to be careful.

"I think it's an important year for me to try to come back to my best level and I will give my best. I have no stress. I just want to enjoy."

Having missed out on a Tour de France podium spot by one place earlier this year, British rider Simon Yates is set to take on one of the craziest climbing challenges in cycling this Friday. 

The Jayco AIUla rider will travel to Taiwan alongside team mate and Colombian climber Jesus David Peña, to embark on the gruelling 87 kilometre long Mount Hehuan - which tops out at 3,275 metres of elevation. 

The event will see amateurs given the opportunity to compete against professionals on Mount Hehuan, which has an average gradient of 3.5% but also features sections over 15%.

Multiple Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali won the Taiwan climbing challenge in 2017 and still holds the record for the fastest ever ascent. Nibali climbed Mount Hehuan in three hours, 19 minutes and 54 seconds.

Previewing the event, Yates said he was looking forward to taking on a challenge that was far removed from his everyday experiences as a WorldTour rider.

“The Taiwan KOM Challenge is a different style of racing to what we are used to with the race starting at sea level and then climbing to over 3000 metres,” he said. “There are not many climbs like that and doing a race that is basically one big climb will be a really interesting challenge and totally different to anything I've done before.

“Also, lining up alongside riders of all different levels from all over the world will be a unique experience.”

Another reason for Yates to succeed in Taiwan will be the fact that the Bury-born rider and Peña will be representing Jayco AIUla’s bike partner Giant in the brand's home country.

“Being in Taiwan will be special for us as a team,” Yates added. “It is the home of Giant and it will be nice to represent the brand, meet the people who work behind the scenes and also meet some of the fans out there.”

Coming from Colombia, Peña added that his experiences of riding his bike in his home country mean that he is more than used to riding at extreme altitude.

He said: “I’m really excited to be taking on this challenge, I think it is a race that suits me, I am a climber and coming from Colombia I am used to climbing at altitude. I think it is a special event and to do a race that is only uphill is something really different and exciting for me.

"I have had a good season and it will be good to end it in a nice way at the Taiwan KOM Challenge.”

Earlier this Yates recorded his best-ever finish at the Tour de France - fourth overall - behind eventual winner Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma. Yates’ twin brother Adam finished third and wore the yellow jersey for a number of days across the three-week French Grand Tour. 

Adam and Simon Yates' mother said it was always a dream to have a one-two at any race, let alone the Tour de France, so ended up delighted on Saturday evening.

Suzy Yates told Cycling Weekly on Sunday afternoon that her heart was going at a million miles an hour as the twins approached the line in Bilbao on stage one. Adam, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, won the stage and took the yellow jersey, while Simon, of Jayco-AlUla, had to settle for second.

“We were watching the Tour as normal, watched it go past as usual, and we were on our way to the next place,” Suzy said. “We were going to stop, when all of a sudden Adam's partner called and said 'Adam and Simon are away, they've got a gap'. I put the phone down, tried to get it on the TV, I had to get it on the phone, and I was just screaming 'oh my god, oh my god’

“My heart was going at a million miles an hour, and we were still driving on the motorway, so we had nowhere to stop.

“We managed to see them cross the line. I didn't care who won, I just wanted one of them to win. It was my dream to have a one-two, and for this in the Tour is a dream,” she added. “I just wanted them to stay away.”

Both Suzy and her husband, John, joked that the two brothers would have exchanged a fair bit of banter after Adam pipped Simon to the stage win and maillot jaune.

“There would have been a lot of banter afterwards... I'll have you next time, that kind of thing,” she said. “They're so, so close. Even if they don't speak to us for days on end, they're on the phone to each other.”

Mrs Yates explained that no matter what race the twins are competing in, they always get her joint support.

“It's always been a bit surreal,” she said. “It's always hard when they're in a race together, to know who to support. They both get my equal shouting and screaming at the TV, and it's just fabulous.

“I've waited a long time for this. I always tell them it would be really nice to have a one-two. I send them good wishes every morning. Happy days.”

Coming into the Tour, Adam Yates was named as co-leader of UAE Team Emirates with Tadej Pogačar. While Adam has played this down, the team has continued to insist he is a contender for the overall. He is in the yellow jersey, to be fair.

Pogačar suffered a wrist injury at Liège–Bastogne–Liège leading to doubts on how ready he would be fitness wise when the Tour arrived. The two-time winner looked strong on both of the opening stages and despite currently leading the race, Suzy told Cycling Weekly that Adam’s focus would be solely on supporting his teammate once the mountains arrive in the coming days.

“Tadej is his first port of call, so who knows how it will go,” Mrs Yates explained. “He's very strong, he's very tactical, I think he's a bit under the radar. Who knows, why not. I'd love him to keep it a few more days, but who knows.”

Almost everyone - if they're not an only child - has memories of special moments spent with a sibling. It could be a trip to Legoland, rushing downstairs to open Christmas presents together, or going on a first night out together. Not many siblings are able to say they have been locked together in a battle for a stage of the world's biggest bike race, and the most famous leader's jersey of all.

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) and Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) are not ordinary people. In fact, they have been some of the best bike riders in the world for the past few years, sharing 54 professional wins between them. The twins from Bury might be exceptional bike riders, but it was still a unique situation for the pair on Saturday evening, as stage one of the Tour de France ended in delight for one Yates, and regret for the other.

The pair attacked down the final climb of the day, the Côte de Pike, and stayed away from the likes of Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), in order to go pedal-to-pedal up a punchy finalé. Adam took the initiative and had more energy than his brother, storming to his first Tour and Grand Tour stage win.

"It was a super special experience. To go one-two on the final climb with your brother is not something many people can say, so it was really nice," Adam said post-stage. "He did most of the work on the descent and on the flat, because obviously I had Tadej behind. With four, five kilometres to go, I got the call from Tadej saying I could work, and we went full gas to the finish, so it was a super nice experience, and a great day."

It was a gutting finish for Simon, coming second to the man who he has probably raced the most over his 30 years, from the streets where he grew up in Lancashire, to the streets of Andorra, where the pair live, close together.

"It's difficult," Simon explained. "I'm pretty pleased for him, [it's a] first Grand Tour stage. Of course I'm ecstatic for him, but I also wanted to win, we're quite competitive. Like I said, I'll try and get the better of him in the coming days."

Adam was wary of his brother's threat in the coming days, as he will seek to get one back over him.

"When we got away together I said, 'I can't work, I can't work', and he knew how it was," Adam said. "He's professional, I'm professional, and that's professional bike racing. Then I got the call that I could start to work, and we went full gas to the finish.

"On the final climb I managed to have a bit more energy, because he spent some on the descent. But he's still in super great shape, I'm sure he's going to be a pain in the ass over the next few weeks."

The pair's parents are on the roads of the Tour, and saw the special moment. It is not the first time the twins have finished first and second at a race - that was at the Tour de l'Avenir in 2013, where Simon won - but this is a whole different level. It must be an odd feeling to experience jubilation and yet empathy for your brother's loss, which Adam went through, and then feel regret and also happy for your brother, as Simon did.

"I have a fantastic relationship with my brother, so I'm really happy for him, and I'll stick it to him in the coming days," Simon explained. "They're [his parents] out on course somewhere, I didn't manage to see them, it was too hectic. They're following the whole thing, I'm sure they'll see us come past tomorrow."

"We’re super close, I've spoken to him every day for the last 15 years, well, 20 years," Adam said. "We’re really close, but this year, we did preparation differently. He's been training alone, making sure he stays out of trouble, and I've been doing Dauphiné, and I was in the Sierra Nevada before that. So I've been with my team for a long time, and he's being doing his own thing. When we're back in Andorra, he lives five, ten minutes away, so we see each other whenever we can."

Despite the stage win, and the time in yellow that follows, Adam is realistic about his job at this year's Tour de France: he is here to help Tadej Pogačar win. This is despite the team trailing Adam and Pogačar as co-leaders last week.

"At the end of the day, we're here for Tadej," Adam said. "For me, he is the best rider in the world, he's been the best rider for years now, and we 100% back him. If I can help him out with tactics like today, chipping off the front and causing a bit of carnage, then that's what we'll do. Depending on the race, depending on the situation, we'll see."

Sunday is another day, another hard stage, but Adam Yates and UAE Team Emirates have already stamped their authority on this year's race. Now we will wait and see if Simon has a response.

BikeExchange-Jayco has today announced its Tour de France selection and the surprise omission from the Australian team's lineup was Simon Yates.

Yates' most recent racing action was at the Giro d’Italia earlier this year in which he won two stages. He later abandoned the Giro due to pain from a knee injury picked up in a crash on stage four during the race. 

Yates was expected to race the Tour de France if he had recovered in time. But after a longer recovery period, including some time away from his bike, he will now ride the Vuelta a Espana later this year instead. It is a race he won in 2018. 

The 29 year old climber has enjoyed success at the Tour in the past. He won the best young rider classification in 2017 and won two stages at the 2019 edition of the Tour but crashed out of proceedings in 2021.

In this year's Giro he won the stage two time trial in Budapest before later taking victory on an enthralling stage 14 in the hills around Torino. The second stage win came despite Yates battling with the knee injury that would eventually cause him to leave the race. 

The absence of Yates means that BikeExchange-Jayco will arrive in Copenhagen with their hopes of stage wins pinned on sprinters Dylan Groenewegen and Michael Matthews. Both have proven success at the Tour de France, racking up one green jersey and seven stage wins between them.

Another notable absence for the Australian team was US National Time Trial Champion, Lawson Craddock. 

Team manager Matt White said the team’s selection for the grand-tour could be competitive over various terrain.

“This is an experienced group to be taking to what is always a beautiful, yet stressful block of racing. We have a team of guys who can win stages and be very competitive across the three weeks over various terrains. There is one thing for sure; this group will put their hearts and souls into our daily plans and objectives from day one in Copenhagen, until we cross that finish line in Paris,” said White

Groenewegen’s last featured at the Tour de France in 2019, taking a stage win that year. 

A big target for the Australian outfit is the second stage in Copenhagen.

Groenewegen said: “I hope there is not too much wind so it can finish with a sprint. The sprints at the TDF are always hectic, not only with all the sprinters but there’s always general classification riders trying to stay at the front too for the time, so it’s always busy in the bunch and this makes it different to other races. Having these experienced riders around me in the finals will be important during the whole Tour.” 

BikeExchange-Jayco line-up in full: 

Dylan Groenewegen, Luka Mezgec, Michael Matthews, Luke Durbidge, Chris Juul-Jensen, Jack Bauer, Nick Schultz and Amund Grøndahl Jansen.

Simon Yates has abandoned the Giro d'Italia on stage 17, after managing his knee injury became too much for him.

The Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider injured himself in a crash on stage four to Mount Etna, when Yates struck a kerb after being hit from behind by another rider. His knee has been noticeably strapped in the fortnight since he hurt himself, but it did not prevent Yates from winning stage 14 around Torino last Saturday.

There had been speculation that his heavily-strapped knee was causing him such problems that he would be forced to quit the Giro on the second rest day, but that did not come to pass, with the Briton battling on.

Yates had earlier won the stage two time trial in Budapest, with his tally of stage wins at this race standing at six.

The two in 2022 were added to the he won four before this year, including three in his thrilling tilt at pink in 2018, which actually saw him end up in 21st place overall. At last year's edition, Yates finished third, his first podium at the Italian Grand Tour.

He was clearly disappointed with his efforts at the Giro, a race he came into aiming for general classification victory.

Dr. Matteo Beltemacchi, Team BikeExchange-Jayco's doctor, said in a statement: “Yates' fall on Mount Etna and subsequent knee problem (likely edema of the bony spongiosa of the patella) weighed down on the rider for all following stages of the Giro d’Italia. 

"Despite daily therapy and Simon's tenacity, that resulted in a second stage win, the knee pain grew worse and worse, eventually leading to the decision for his retirement from the race.”

He is expected to ride the Tour de France as well in July, but it is unlikely that he will target GC there as well after his tilt at the overall at the Giro. If that was the case, one would expect him to have headed home early in order to be at his best for that race.

Yates has had a turbulent relationship with the Giro since his debut in 2018, when he won those stages and led the race for 13 days before conceding it to compatriot Chris Froome. The 2019 and 2020 editions were fruitless for him, but he roared back in 2021 to take a sensational stage win to Alpe di Mera and finally grab an overall podium, finishing third.

Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) won the sixth Giro d'Italia stage of his career with a late attack on stage 14 in Turin.

The British rider, who saw his GC hopes dashed earlier in the race due to injury, pounced inside the final five kilometres to take victory.

It's Yates' second victory at this year's Giro following his individual time-trial win on stage two in Budapest.

Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) beat Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) to second place on the stage with Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Qazaqstan Team) finishing in the same group.

Carapaz will take the Maglia Rosa from Juan Pedro López (Trek-Segafredo) after the 24-year-old was unable to cope with the high pace set on the gruelling hills around Turin.

HOW IT HAPPENED

A 147km stage with over 3,000m of climbing around the hills of Turin was bound to make for a hectic day at the Giro d’Italia. 

Leaving Santena, the riders faced a handful of small climbs before beginning two laps of a hilly circuit around Turin. 

Two ascents of both the Superga and the Colle della Maddalena climbs would help to truly sap the energy from their legs before a descent-filled final 15km back to the finish line in Turin. 

After the efforts exerted to catch the breakaway on yesterday’s stage into Cuneo, the peloton would’ve hoped for a straightforward and simple start to stage 14.

It was anything but that on the shortest day of this year’s Giro d’Italia. 

Given the classics-style terrain of the stage, the break was hotly contested. 

The likes of Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) and Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) all tried to escape up the road, causing temporary splits in the bunch behind.

However, by the time Il Pilonetto - the first categorised climb of the day - was reached after 40km of racing, there was still no definitive breakaway.

Diego Rosa (EOLO-Kometa) summitted the climb first to extend his lead in the Maglia Azzurra.

The Italian climber, alongside 11 other riders, managed to create a substantial gap over the peloton.

Alonside Rosa, the breakaway included: Nans Peters (AG2R Citroën Team), Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Fenix), Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan Team), Filippo Zana (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Ben Zwiehoff (BORA-hansgrohe), Diego Camargo (EF Education-EasyPost), Ignatas Konovalovas (Groupama-FDJ), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal), Iván Sosa (Movistar), James Knox (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team) and Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates). 

Yet with around 75km to go, Bora-hansgrohe set the race alight. 

Not keen to let the break ride off down the road, they set a ferocious pace in the peloton and dropped large swathes of the bunch in the process.

The German team were in full attack mode, ripping the race apart as they reached the start of the first of two circuits around Turin.

When the Superga climb was tackled for the first time, just 12 riders remained in a decimated peloton.

The Maglia Rosa, Juan Pedro López made the split and was joined by a host of strong riders including Richard Carapaz , João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), Domenico Pozzovivo, Jan Hirt (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Vincenzo Nibali and Simon Yates.

Bora-hansgrohe had the numerical advantage though, with Wilco Kelderman working in support of his co-leaders Jai Hindley and Emanuel Buchmann.

It took until the second ascent of the Superga, with just over 30km to go, for this group of favourites to be whittled down again.

With 28km remaining and the summit of the Superga in sight, Carapaz attacked with no one able to respond.

As the Ecuadorian stormed away, the only man in front of him in the overall standings, López, was dropped from the chasing group. 

Carapaz held a lead of 20 seconds as he began the short descent from the Superga summit. 

With 15km left though, Hindley and Nibali attacked from the chasing group as they took on the Colle della Maddalena.

The duo bridged over to the Olympic champion, dragging themselves up the 3.6km climb that had ramps touching 20%.

The trio were soon joined by Simon Yates as the climb plateaued.

The Bury-born rider is no longer a threat in the GC standings, and he used this to his advantage as the quartet reached the final climb of the day at the Parco del Nobile.

Yates attacked over the short un-categorised climb and rapidly built up a gap of 20 seconds.

More focused on their GC objectives, the chasing trio kept the pace high into the finish in Turin but Yates crossed the line with a 15 second advantage to secure his second stage win of this year’s Giro.

Carapaz now finds himself seven seconds ahead of Hindley in the overall standings, with López, after a remarkable 10 days in pink, finishing over four minutes back and dropping to ninth in the GC. 

Results

GIRO D’ITALIA 2022, STAGE 14: SANTENA TO TURIN (147KM)

1. Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange-Jayco, in 3-43-44
2.Jai Hindley (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 15s
3.Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers,
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team, at same time
5. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, at 28s
6. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 39s
7. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 51s
8. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at same time
9. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-10
10. Juan Pedro López (Esp) Trek-Segafredo, at 4-25

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 14

1. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, in 58-21-28
2. Jai Hindley (Aus) BORA-hansgrohe, at 7 seconds
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, at 30s
4. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 59s
5. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, at 1-01
6. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain-Victorious, at 1-52
7. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) BORA-hansgrohe, at 1-58
8. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team, at 2-58
9. Juan Pedro López (Esp) Trek-Segafredo, at 4-04
10. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 9-06

Among the interesting figures jumping off the front in the final kilometres of stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia was Simon Yates. The Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider is sticking around at the race, and so we should expect to see a lot more of the Briton in the coming stages, especially once the Giro heads to the Alps.

Yates escaped off the front, and was joined by Mathieu van der Poel in an unsuccessful move, but one that hinted that the man from Bury will be seeking to force things more in the coming days.

It represents a change in tactics from him and his team, after his general classification ambitions ended on the climb to Blockhaus. Yates, suffering from a knee injury and struggling with the high heat on stage nine, lost over 11 minutes.

The injury came from a crash on stage four to Mount Etna, when Yates struck a kerb after being hit from behind by another rider. There was speculation that his heavily-strapped knee was causing him such problems that he would be forced to quit the Giro on the second rest day, but that has not come to pass.

He is expected to ride the Tour de France as well in July, but it is unlikely that he will target GC there as well after his tilt at the overall at the Giro. If that was the case, one would expect him to have headed home early in order to be at his best for that race.

With the weight of riding for the pink jersey taken off his shoulders, however involuntarily, Yates will now have the freedom to target stage wins later in the race. Of course, he has already won one in this edition, in the time trial around Budapest.

He had won a further four before this year, including three in his thrilling tilt at pink in 2018, which actually saw him end up in 21st place overall. He has the speed and the skill to win on punchy finishes as well as on the days in the mountains, so it would not be a surprise to see him win on multiple occassions.

Yates has had a turbulent relationship with the Giro since his debut in 2018, when he won those stages and led the race for 13 days before conceding it to compatriot Chris Froome. The 2019 and 2020 editions were fruitless for him, but he roared back in 2021 to take a sensational stage win to Alpe di Mera and finally grab an overall podium, finishing third.

His BikeExchange directeur sportif Matt White told VeloNews this week that Yates did not have an injury severe enough to send him home, and that they would now be looking at new objectives.

“The health of our athletes is always the first priority,” White said. “Our medical team would not want to him start if there were any issues.”

“We have to look to different goals. We haven’t got a sprinter here, so we will take it day-by-day, and reassess what we want to do. There is still plenty of Giro left.”

Yates' next chance might come on Thursday's stage 12 to Genoa, if he fancies getting in the breakaway, before there are lots more climbing opportunities in the final week. 

His attempt to get away on Tuesday showed that he has not lost the fight yet, and he might be able to return to success rather than disappointment at this Giro.

Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) cited injury and heat as the cause of his massive time loss on Giro d'Italia stage nine.

The Briton, a pre-race favourite for the overall title, shipped over 11 minutes to the other contenders on the final climb to Blockhaus. He had valiantly fought on to keep the time losses down after being initially dropped with over 11km to go, but eventually succumbed the effort and finished 11-15 behind stage winner Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe). Yates now occupies 25th place in GC at 11-11.

A crash on stage four to Mount Etna was the start of Yates' knee issues, but he safely navigated his way through the week's remaining stages before Blockhaus with his fifth place on GC intact. However he has since revealed he has been in pain since the race's first summit finish.

It wasn't just his heavily strapped right knee that caused him problems though, Yates said following the stage, as he also suffered in the heat of the day in central Italy.

"I was hopeful of still being able to try and do something," Yates said, "but I've been in a lot of [knee] pain since Etna.

"I've been trying to manage it as best as possible. It wasn't my only problem today. I suffered also with the heat."

The 29-year-old said he'll now take Monday's rest day to reassess his opportunities at the Giro and his condition.

"I'll see what happens now, we've got the rest day. I'll see how I pull up from the stage today."

Yates has had a turbulent relationship with the Giro since his debut in 2018, when he won three stages and led the race for 13 days before conceding it to compatriot Chris Froome. The 2019 and 2020 editions were fruitless for him, but he roared back in 2021 to take a sensational stage win to Alpe di Mera and finally grab an overall podium, finishing third.

The 2022 Giro continues on Tuesday with stage 10 and finishes on May 29 with a time trial in Verona.

Simon Yates has not won many time trials. Before Saturday he had only ever won one before, a stage of Paris-Nice in 2019. However, if a time trial was to suit the BikeExchange-Jayco rider, it was to be stage two of the Giro d'Italia.

The course was just 9.2km long and had a punchy finish, meaning it would not necessarily favour the flat-track rouleur bullies, so Yates could make his mark. 

However, even the Briton himself described his win as a "bit unexpected". Not only was he the fastest across the whole course, he was fastest on the flat section too.

Yates does have a tiny bit of form on Giro opening time trials, finishing second on stage one of the 2019 edition, which was a punchy effort against the clock in Bologna. Even then, few expected him to make the difference.

Speaking shortly after his win, which elevated him to second on general classification, Yates said it was "my best" performance.

"I’m of course really happy," he said. "A bit unexpected, but I’ll take them as they come.

"I just tried to go as fast as possible. I want to thank our partners Giant and Cadex who have put a lot of work into our equipment this year."

Yates triumphed over established time trial specialists like Tom Dumoulin, Edoardo Affini and João Almeida. However, his period in the hot seat was not a comfortable one, and he still had to watch riders like Mathieu van der Poel, Wilco Kelderman and Ben Tulett come close

"I was never confident there," he explained. "Van der Poel was pretty close as well. You always have that belief you could win and in the end I managed to hold on."

The Dutchman was so close, in fact, that he managed to hold onto the maglia rosa for the second day running; he finished just three seconds behind Yates. Not that the BikeExchange rider minds too much, as his goals are further down the road. It's almost a bonus that he won a stage so early in the race.

"Today was a 12 minute effort, we still have some much more demanding stages in front of us," Yates said. "Of course we’ll celebrate today. One of two time trials that I’ve ever won, my first in the grand tour. We’ll look at the bigger picture now."

As the mountains loom, he has put himself in an excellent position in the general classification, already 24 seconds ahead of a rival as big as Richard Carapaz. Unexpected maybe, but a sign of form, and a very useful start to the race.

Simon Yates brushed off any claims that he is among the favourites to win the Giro d'Italia, though he seemed quietly confident as he discussed what he has learned from previous editions of the Grand Tour.

Yates is currently tipped as the bookies' second favourite rider to win the Giro this year, behind Ineos Grenadiers rider Richard Carapaz. Addressing this assumption at BikeExchange-Jayco's pre-race press conference ahead of Friday's start, Yates attempted to brush off any added pressure that might be added on him. 

“I’ll let you guys make that decision,” Yates said. “I think the riders are just anxious to start. There are others who will be competitive. Take it back to last year. I’d won the Tour of the Alps and I kept reading I was a massive favourite.

"Romain Bardet won the Tour of the Alps this year and I’ve heard nothing about him so I think there’s a few guys flying under the radar.”

Previously, Yates has mentioned he is aiming for a podium spot in the overall standings, which would at least match his best result of third in the event, achieved last year.   

This year is the fifth consecutive season Yates is competing at the Giro, and while he is coyly downplaying his chances at victory this year, he also suggested he is much better prepared than in previous years to deal with the challenges across the three-week race. 

“I think I’ve learned patience,” he said. “You need to be quite calm. The race is three weeks. You can always go back to 2018 where we really went after it in the first and second weeks and then fell apart in the third.

“But even last year I had some problems with my hamstrings in the first week but still came good towards the end, managed a stage and arrived on the podium. You’ve got to have an eye on the big picture, be patient and wait for the race to come to you.”

That aforementioned 2018 performance saw the British rider win three stages in the opening two weeks, helping him spend 13 days in the pink jersey. However, he failed to keep that momentum going heading into the final six stages, and ultimately relinquished the lead to eventual winner Chris Froome when the-then Team Sky rider launched that stinging stage 19 attack.

Despite going on to win the Vuelta a España later that year, Yates claims he has learned patience since. The 29-year-old recognises he exerted too much energy in the first two weeks in 2018 before blowing up in the third week, which he now understands isn't the way to race the Giro d'Italia. 

Simon Yates will lead Team BikeExchange-Jayco at the Giro d'Italia, with the Briton stating that he is aiming for a podium position in Verona at the end of May.

The Australian squad released their eight-man squad for the Corsa Rosa on Monday, with Yates as the absolute leader, but in a press release the team shied away from saying they were targeting pink.

"From an actual racing point of view, you always aim for the podium," Yates said. "We aim for the podium and once we get closer to the last week, we assess if we are in a position to win it or not, then we go at it from there".

The 29-year-old has been close to a "position to win it" before at the Italian Grand Tour, leading the race for 13 days in 2018 before losing out in the final days, and finishing third overall last year.

Yates has won four stages at the Giro in the past, and will be looking to add to this tally over the next few weeks. He comes into the race after two stage wins at the Vuelta Asturias last week. 

"I have just finished the Vuelta Asturias and the two stage victories there have confirmed to me the good job done during the recent altitude training camp," he said. "I’ll be leaving for Budapest ready for my fifth Giro d'Italia. I still have memories of the great celebrations on the podium in Milan last year, and it wouldn't be bad to re-live the same emotions again."

The man from Bury impressed at Paris-Nice earlier this year, winning the final stage and finishing second overall, but then had an aborted ride at the Volta a Catalunya due to illness. His team will be hoping that he can repeat his top form in Italy.

"A success in a way is not the end result," Yates said. "I want to go there in my best condition and do the best result possible. If I don’t win then, then that’s ok because somebody is better than me. If I go there and I am not at the level required, then that is a failure for me."

He will be joined by three riders who were on the team last year as well, when he finished third: Michael Hepburn, Chris Juul-Jensen and Callum Scotson. Hepburn is down as road captain for the race.

The US and Italian time trial champions, Lawson Craddock and Matteo Sobrero, are also part of the squad, and Australian climbers Damien Howson and Lucas Hamilton will provide support to Yates on the climbs.

Matt White, the team's head sports director, said: "“he Giro d’Italia has been a big, big goal for the team over last few years and this year is no different. We have a really good squad with a lot of experience in Grand Tours and we will go into the Giro as one of the favourites for the race. It is a challenge we are looking forward to. 

"Simon is coming off Vuelta Asturias and it was good preparation for him and for the rest of the team after an altitude block."

"I had to try something", Simon Yates explained after his attack on stage eight of Paris-Nice which brought him victory in Nice.

The Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider launched his solo effort on the Col d'Èze, the final classified climb of this year's race. While his advantage sometimes ticked up past 25 seconds, he was held in check by Primož Roglič and Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma, and remained second overall.

"I'm not going to win a sprint against Van Aert or Roglič, so I had to try something, and I wasn't feeling great either," the Briton said. "I wasn't confident to make an advantage, but if you don't try then you never know. I tried, and there was no real tactics, I just had luck."

Yates trailed Roglič by 47 seconds going into the day, and ended just 29 seconds behind the Slovenian. However, he maintained that he was only thinking about winning the stage in Nice.

"I don't know, I was not think about the GC today," he said. "I was just thinking about the stage win. Of course it crossed my mind once the gap really started to go out, but today I was all in for the stage win and that was it."

It is Yates' fourth stage win at Paris-Nice, but his first since 2019. It caps a week off which saw him deliver an impressive time trial on stage four. It is his best stage race result since winning the Tour of the Alps in April last year, and his first WorldTour stage race win since Tirreno-Adriatico in 2020.

However, he urged people to not read "too much" into his performance over eight days this week.

"The Giro [d'Italia] is still a long way away, at least as far as I'm concerned," Yates said. "Of course I'm very happy with my performance this week, it's been good. I do Catalunya next as well, which is not far away, so hopefully another good performance there. 

"I think I'm really happy with the stage win, but the time trial was the best one I've done for a long time, so of course I'm very happy with that performance there."

After Saturday's stage to the Col de Turini, Yates had said that Roglič was hardly breathing while the others were panting on the mountain pass.

However, he argued that the final stage suited him a lot more, and that he also drew on experience to bring home the win.

"Shorter climbs, much more explosive," he said. "Yesterday I think it took us maybe 40 minutes to do the final climb, more of an aerobic effort. Obviously the conditions as well. I don't like racing in the rain or the cold but I had a lot of clothes on today. Maybe after the long descent into Nice that's where I gained a little bit maybe, I kept a lot of clothes on. 

"I did that with a bit of experience, because I've raced this circuit in the rain before and frozen up, in 2018 and not had the legs, so maybe that's where the difference was."

Yates might not have won the yellow jersey, but he proved that he is in very good form ahead of a spring in which he hopes to pull on the pink jersey instead.

After finishing third behind Primož Roglič on the Col de Turini, Simon Yates was pretty sanguine about his day out in the Alpes at Paris-Nice, where he finished third behind the Slovenian and Dani Martínez.

"There's not much you can do when he is in second gear," the British BikeExchange-Jayco rider said after crossing the finish line.

"He's not even breathing and everyone else is panting," Yates told reporters, as Roglič parried off repeated attacks on the day's final climb to power to the win in snowy conditions. The Slovenian has proved on multiple occasions that he is the man to beat in uphill sprints.

Roglič's victory on the week's queen stage puts him in control of the general classification ahead of Sunday's final stage; Yates sits 47 seconds behind him.

He said that he put some "cheeky moves in" to try and upset the rhythm of his competitors, but it appears that there is little to be done when Roglič is in the mood to win.

Despite tomorrow's challenging parcours, Yates has already all but given up hopes of winning the yellow jersey in Nice tomorrow.

"I really like tomorrow, it's always a nice race...we will see what we can do, but it's pretty much done already...I don't see myself attacking Roglič tomorrow."

He described himself as 9/10 ahead of the day, and post-stage Yates said: "I feel ok, but nothing special. It could have been better, it could have been worse."

Yates is trailed by Martínez of Ineos Grenadiers by 13 seconds, and was beaten by the Colombian for second place on Saturday. "Martínez was really good so I expect him to make a move," he said, adding that he might have to ride defensively to hold onto his second position on the podium.

It was Yates' twin brother, Adam, who set the final attacks in motion as he powered off the front with 7km to go, but was then caught by Roglič, Martínez, and Arkéa-Samsic's Nairo Quintana. Simon Yates then caught up to this group and made the final selection; he described it as "mano a mano" as soon as his twin brother attacked.

There is still a lot of love between the pair of Yates', however, as they cycled down the mountain together, returning to their team buses.

One winner of the day was João Almeida, who moved into the white jersey lead, coming in over the line in fifth. Matteo Jorgenson, the classification's previous leader, lost 7:30 on the climb, while Almeida lost just 11 seconds.

Describing it as a "hard day", UAE Team Emirates' Portuguese rider said that he still felt fresh. "I managed my effort, and I am happy with my performance. I didn't start the stage race good, so getting that [the white jersey] is good."

Despite the snow-bound top of the Col de Turini, Almeida said: "I've been in worse situations", no doubt including some of the tough stages at the 2020 Giro d'Italia, during which he wore the pink jersey.

The Olympic road race is one of the toughest and most unpredictable races on the cycling calendar, but how do the men’s squad see this year’s event playing out?

Team GB have four riders competing in the 230km men’s course around Mount Fuji on Saturday (July 24), who all have a chance at competing for the win. 

The four British male riders are Geraint Thomas, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Simon and Adam Yates, but it’s not yet clear who will be the chosen leader. 

Speaking from a video press conference ahead of the event Geoghegan Hart, winner of the 2020 Giro d’Italia, said: “I think it's going to be probably one of the most physically demanding races that we'll do this year, if not in our careers potentially if the temperature and humidity and everything line up.” 

Temperatures in Tokyo leading up to the road race have hit mid-30s with humidity up at 80 per cent, with the forecast for Saturday putting the temperature at 32 degrees. 

The course itself is also brutal, with five categorised climbs spread over 234km.

Geoghegan Hart, who has just come out of the Tour de France a week before the race, said: ‘’I wouldn’t be here [if I didn’t think I was capable of winning]. I think that’s the big strength of this team, we’ve got options to play. 

“It’s a really small team, so it’s important to have cards to play. 

“With the long climb up to Fuji I think you’ve probably got three hours of racing left to go, but I think the race will be on from there.

“It’ll definitely be very unpredictable and hopefully quite an open race. That’s what we’ve seen historically in the games.” 

Simon Yates will also be racing in Tokyo alongside his twin brother Adam, after Simon abandoned the Tour de France on stage 13 following a crash.  

>>> Five things to look out for at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games women's road race

He said: “It’s always going to be difficult to win and I think as a team we will try and do the best we can.

“The course is hard. I think it’s going to be a very selective course, not just the parcours but the conditions as well. 

“We only have a four-man squad. We don’t even have a full team.

“It really changes the dynamic to what we’re used to on the WorldTour. 

“As a team we’ve got a really good chance. It’s just about putting those pieces together.” 

Team BikeExchange have released an update on Simon Yates' condition after he abandoned the Tour de France 2021 due to a heavy crash on stage 13.

The team's doctor confirmed that the British climber had trauma to his abdominal wall before he was then transferred to the hospital in the finish city of Carcassonne where he underwent a precautionary CT scan which fortunately didn't show further issues. He is aiming to ride the Olympic Games road race in Tokyo on July 24, so will be hoping the after-effects of the crash don't hamper his preparations.

Yates went down with a large group of riders including his team-mate and climber, Lucas Hamilton, who also abandoned the race soon after Yates did with it later revealed that he suffered a dislocated shoulder.

>>> Tour de France stage 14 LIVE: Carcassonne to Quillan

The team's head sport director, Matt White said: "It is devastating for Lucas and Simon; everybody knows how much hard work the boys put in to prepare for the biggest race of the year. We have lost two of our three climbers going into the Pyrenees which means we are going to have to adjust our tactics but the immediate priority for us is to see how the guys are and that they recover well."

The team would have been targetting days in the Pyrenees to try and take a stage win but now they're only left with one climber in the race, Esteban Chaves. 

Yates has been in the breakaway on a couple of occasions at the race but did look a bit off the pace, being dropped by the likes of Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) on the climbs, which is not what we're used to seeing from the 2018 Vuelta a España winner.

Yates was involved in a crash with around 62km to go after the pace had rocketed due to a plethora of attacks at the front of the peloton. The peloton went onto a fast and tight descent that had patches on gravel on the right-hand side of the road which brought a large number of riders down, with some falling down the side of the hill next to the road.

Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) went on to win his 34th and record-equaling stage win at the Tour de France on stage 13 but it's back to the climbing with 183.7km in the foothills of the Pyrenees between Carcassonne and Quillan.

Simon Yates has abandoned the Tour de France 2021.

The British climber had been hoping to target stage wins in the Pyrenees in the coming days, but he was caught up in a high-speed crash with around 60km left to race on stage 13.

Yates, winner of the 2018 Vuelta a España, was one of several riders who fell on a sweeping left-hand turn, as some fell into a steep ravine at the right-hand side of the road.

Team BikeExchange rider Yates was able to get back on the bike to try and rejoin the peloton, but was later forced to abandon the stage.

The incident happened as stage 13 from Nîmes to Carcassonne sparked into life with a flurry of attacks from the peloton.

But with the action came the chaos, as a group of riders fell on a narrow section of road.

Tim Declerq (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) and Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM) were amongst those who went down in the fall, as Andersen was seen clambering back up the steep grass verge to return to road level, his bike lifted above his head.

Yates remained on the floor for some minutes after his fall, but was able to re-mount to try and chase down the peloton. 

But after pursuing the bunch, Yates was forced to leave the Tour de France. 

>>> When and where Mark Cavendish can break Tour de France stage record in the coming week

The 28-year-old has already had his share of success this year, winning the Tour of the Alps before his main goal of the year, the Giro d'Italia, where he won a stage and finished third overall.  

Simon Yates is planning to ride the Tour de France like a series of one-day races in the mountains, going for stage glory before recharging and going again, in a plan of action that should also see him build form before his main season goal of the Tokyo Olympics road race.

"Physically, I'm okay. For me, it's always the challenge is the mental aspect of it, after going really all-in for the Giro, concentrating for three weeks and then backing it up only a couple of weeks later, that's the hardest thing for me. But physically, I feel fine," Simon Yates said before stage seven, where he later got himself into the breakaway.

"The hardest thing about targeting stages. You never know what the other teams have planned, if they want to go for the stage from the peloton or if they want to go from the break," Yates explained of just how tough it is as a climber to win a stage at the Tour de France. "So we'll see in the coming days, but for sure there are more opportunities for me."

Yates explains Sunday's stage to Tignes probably suits him more than the Saturday's finish at Le Grand-Bornand, as it's an uphill finish and a generally harder stage too, he thinks.

>>> Jumbo-Visma pretty sure Primož Roglič's Tour de France GC battle is over

"From eight onwards, there are a lot of opportunities," he says. "Ventoux, of course, is a very famous climb in the Tour de France. I've actually never been to it or raced up it, I don't believe, I think we've passed over in Paris-Nice, but we didn't go to the summit. 

"Of course it would be great to win that stage but there's also a lot of other stages that I believe I can win. Going into the second rest day we also finish in Andorra, very close to where I live. So that would also be a great stage to win.

"The whole point is to try and replicate 2019, a top 10 at the Giro and then I managed to win two stages at the Tour. So I mean, if I can grab one here then that will be successful," Yates added, having already secured third overall at the Giro earlier this year.

Fitting the Giro, Tour and Olympics into one season is an impressive feat, and Yates thinks if he rode for GC in France he wouldn't be able to physically recover in time to challenge for gold in Tokyo.

"I don't think I would come out of the Tour de France physically good enough to do a good job [at the Olympics]. And that's been a goal of mine for a long time now. So to do the full three weeks of GC, it's very demanding for the body and I just don't think it's enough time for me personally, to recover and back it up at the Olympics. 

"I think it's just better to target stages, really go all in for a stage here take a few days off and do it again another day, and that really replicates a one-day race, like the Olympics. I think also just mentally it's difficult for me to do both the Giro and the Tour for GC, it takes a lot of mental effort as well as physical effort."

Great Britain are not expected to represented with quantity at the 2021 Tour de France, but instead with a little more than a handful of star quality.

Although official team sheets have yet to be announced, it is thought that six British riders will line-up for the start in Brest, with UK-registered team Ineos Grenadiers fielding half.

In 2020 there were just four Brits present as Tadej Pogačar claimed his maiden yellow jersey, but this time around there are two from the country with genuine aspirations of succeeding the Slovenian, and maybe even a third if circumstances fall his way.

Geraint Thomas, Ineos Grenadiers

The Welshman won the race in 2018, finished runner-up in the defence of his title and returns to La Grand Boucle after missing out on selection in 2020.

His form this season suggests that he is as strong as ever and it would be a major surprise were he not to cause Pogačar and Primoż Roglič problems in the mountains and time trials.

The 35-year-old knows that time is running out in his quest to win at least one more Grand Tour, and it appears that he is determined to add another to his collection, bruised by his Tour snub last summer, an untimely fall at the Giro d’Italia and perception that his best days were behind him.

Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ineos Grenadiers

It was Thomas’s crash at last autumn’s Giro that ultimately paved the way for Geoghegan Hart’s own stab at pink which spectacularly paid off in the final time trial.

The Londoner crashed hard at March’s Paris-Nice and was off the pace at his comeback race, the Tour of the Basque Country. Since then, he has slowly returned to form, with a second-place on stage six at the Criterium du Dauphine and finishing 10th overall.

Whether or not he is in the same shape as when he won in Italy is a question that no-one, probably least of all him, has the answer to.

It’s most likely he will ride in support of Thomas, but given his win in Italy, he should not be ruled out for a high-GC placing.

Simon Yates, Team BikeExchange

Off the back from finishing third at the Giro d’Italia where some days he looked the best climber in the peloton and other days he seemed to be a shadow of his previous performances, the Bury-man returns to the Tour for a fifth time.

He claimed two stages in the 2019 edition and that’s what his goals are this time around as well, with the Olympics road race deemed his season objective.

 But should the 28-year-old happen to be in an advantageous position on GC after a week’s racing, you would be foolish to think the 2018 Vuelta a España victor would forgo the chance to win a second Grand Tour.

Chris Froome, Israel Start-Up Nation

The four-time winner returns to the race for the first time since 2018. 

He may not be going to win a fifth title, and instead riding in support of his team leader Michael Woods, but the 35-year-old’s mere presence at the race is an achievement in itself given the injuries he sustained two years ago at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

It’s been well-documented that Froome is more acquainted to the rear than the front of the peloton nowadays, but expect the TV cameras to focus on him a lot.

Luke Rowe, Ineos Grenadiers

There are few road captains more trusted and respected in cycling than Luke Rowe, who will line-up for his seventh Tour.

Prior to last year, Rowe had a 100% win record in the Tour, a remarkable return on five appearances.

He and Thomas have a very strong personal friendship, while his decision-making on the road has been credited with a lot of Ineos Grenadiers’ success in the past decade. An invaluable member of the British team’s eight-man squad.

Alex Dowsett, Israel Start-Up Nation

Although not yet confirmed, Alex Dowsett is set to ride his third Tour, just five weeks after abandoning the Giro d’Italia.

The time trial specialist will have his sights set on the race’s two tests against the clock, and he will also back himself should he make it into a day’s breakaway.

Like so many riding the Tour, Dowsett has Olympic aspirations and he knows that a good showing in France could set him up for a crack at success in Toyko, should he be on the flight to Japan

Simon Yates said he wanted to attack on the final mountain stage of the 2021 Giro d’Italia, but revealed he didn’t have the legs to stay with Egan Bernal.

The British Grand Tour contender had been on the offensive throughout the final week of the Giro as he tried to move up from third-place overall, hoping to maybe overturn his deficit to race leader Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

But after his Team BikeExchange squad set the pace early on stage 20 to Valle Spluga to set up Yates for an attack, the 28-year-old wasn’t able to launch his move, eventually losing time to the rivals ahead of him on general classification.

Speaking after the stage Yates, winner of the 2018 Vuelta a España, said: “We tried to do something again, the boys did a fantastic job again, as always. The plan was to try something on the second to last climb, but we arrived there and I didn’t have the legs, a bit of fatigue from yesterday maybe, a bit of fatigue from three weeks all coming together.

“But as always, I did the best as I could and I’m happy with what I did and we finish off with the TT tomorrow. We’re staying focused, it’s only one more day and then we can celebrate a nice podium in Milan." 

Stage 20, the final road stage before the time trial in Milan on day 21, was a tough mountain stage with three classified climbs in the second half of the course.

The GC race exploded into life on the descent from the first climb, San Bernadino, as Team DSM and Bahrain Victorious attacked on the downhill to pull out an advantage on Bernal and Yates.

On the second climb of the day, the gap grew out to 50 seconds, before Ineos Grenadiers began to shut down the leaders on the way to the final climb. 

Yates was able to follow Bernal and his support rider Daniel Martinez early on the final climb, as we waited for his impending attack, but Yates’s move never came.  

After finally being dropped inside the final 3km of the stage, Yates lost 51 seconds to Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) and almost 30 seconds to Bernal, one day after he won his first stage of this year’s race and clawed back some time. 

>>> Egan Bernal admits he was worried about Damiano Caruso’s ambitious Giro d’Italia attack 

BikeExchange head sports Matt White said: "We wanted to give Yatesy one more chance at winning a stage, one more chance at moving up the general classification, so we took control of the race and it was all going really good.

“In the end Yatesy just didn’t have the legs on the final climb to go with Martinez and Bernal.

"It was 100 per cent effort from all the boys and we can ask no more."

Heading into the final 30km time trial, Yates sits third overall with a deficit of 1-24 to Caruso in second, and 3-23 to leader Egan Bernal.  

Simon Yates has revealed he believed Egan Bernal would let him ride away on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, after reading comments from his rival in the media. 

British star Yates is hoping to take the maglia rosa from Bernal’s shoulders in the pivotal final stages of the 2021 Giro, and went on the offensive again on the penultimate mountain stage.

After attacking 6km from the summit of Alpe di Mera, Yates went clear of Bernal and Ineos Grenadiers to win his first stage of this year’s Giro.

But with one more road stage remaining the job isn’t done for Yates, as he still sits third overall, with a 2-49 deficit to Bernal.

Speaking after the finish of stage 19, Yates said: “I’m really happy. The team did a fantastic job today, controlled at the start, worked a lot and I managed to finish it off.

“I saw the boys from Ineos, they were happy to ride at tempo behind [after João Almeida attacked] and I had a feeling they would let me go today. 

“I read something from Egan on Twitter about how they would be more conservative and control rather than try to go with me.

“I had a feeling they would let me go and as soon as I attacked I saw I was correct, so I just tried to ride full gas and that was it.” 

Yates has been focused on winning this year’s Giro d’Italia, and has clawed his way back onto the podium after some time losses in bad weather during the middle week.

>>> Ineos Grenadiers announce super-strong team for Critérium du Dauphiné 2021

But after attacking Bernal on stage 17 to Sega di Ala and gaining some time, Yates picked up another 28 seconds on Bernal and 32 to Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), who is second overall. 

With one mountain stage remaining before the final time trial in Milan, Yates needs to make up 20 seconds on Caruso to move into second, and 2-49 on Bernal if he wants to take over the leader’s jersey before the TT.  

On his chances of taking pink, Yates said: "I tried to do my best today. It wasn’t the most difficult of stages, a very difficult final climb. Tomorrow is very different, a very hard stage, back in the high altitude so we’ll see what I can do. 

"I’m just doing my best at the moment, and I’m happy with the stage win." 

Simon Yates has revealed he was chasing the breakaway when he attacked on stage 17 of the Giro d’Italia, and that he didn’t realise Egan Bernal had been dropped.

The British Grand Tour contender went on the offensive with his BikeExchange team setting the pace early in the day, before Yates attacked 3km from the summit of Sega di Ala.

Yates gained a chunk of time on his general classification contenders, but said he didn’t know Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) had lost contact.

Speaking after the finish, Yates said: “I was already going full gas, I don’t even realise [Bernal] was dropped until a bit later. 

“I was already going full gas so it’s not like I could try and accelerate more to extend the gap.”  

Yates has been an unknown quantity in this year’s Giro, riding under the radar in the first week with many speculating he was using conservative tactics early in the race.

But after revealing he’d had some undisclosed problems in the opening stages, climbed to second place at the end of the middle week, before he then lost time on stage 16 to Cortina d’Ampezzo. 

Yates has now climbed back onto the podium after stage 17, as he gained almost a minute on Bernal, but he still sits 3-23 off the race lead.

>>> Egan Bernal: If I win the Giro d'Italia with one second or two minutes for me it would be the same

After the finish, he revealed his team had missed the breakaway and that he had been pursuing a stage win: “We missed the breakaway and I wanted to have a go for the stage.

“By the time the break had gone there was only 60km before the first climb - It wasn’t like we had to ride 200km on the front and burn all the team. They did a great job, chapeau to them.”   

Bernal shows his first signs of weakness 

As racing returned after the final rest day of the Giro d’Italia 2021, Egan Bernal looked to be a king in waiting.

The Colombian star has dominated throughout the race so far, winning two stages and continually gaining time to build his advantage to almost 2-30 with just five stages remaining. 

His Ineos Grenadiers team continued to control the pace and onto the foot of the savage final climb to Sega di Ala, and it looked like we might see Bernal put in a characteristic attack in the last few kilometres to extend further, but that’s not how it played out.

Around 3km from the summit Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) finally put in the attack we had been expecting all day, forcing Bernal to try to follow the British Grand Tour winner.

After initially matching Yates, Bernal suddenly hit the wall on the double digit gradients and the clock began to tick.

Bernal looked to have almost come to a complete halt at points, with his team-mate Dani Martinez dropping back to assist his team leader.

After rallying in the final few kilometres, Bernal was able to stick with his nearest rival Damiano Caruso to minimise any losses, while Yates closed gain a chunk of time.

While it may seem like a disaster to crack in dramatic fashion so close to Milan, the blow is not as bad as it initially seems. 

Bernal lost just three seconds to Caruso, and just 53 to Yates, which means he still leads the  2-21 to his nearest rival, whilst further distancing others like Hugh Carthy and Aleksandr Vlasov.

The real question is not the time lost on stage 17, but instead what caused Bernal’s slip. 

Was it the back problems that have hindered him since last season? Has he overexerted himself in the first two weeks of racing? Or was this just a momentary blip that won’t extend beyond the finish? The remaining four stages will tell. 

Simon Yates flies to the summit to take back podium 

Britain’s Simon Yates has cast an almost mysterious figure in this year’s Giro. 

After a very quiet first week, which many put down to conservative tactics for a final week push, Yates then revealed he’d been suffering from a problem that hindered his performance early in the race.

In the second week he began to climb the leaderboard and jumped into second place after stage 14, only to lose all of his gains on the tough stage 16 to Cortina d’Ampezzo, slipping back to fifth. 

Then on stage 17 Yates came back once again, enjoying the better weather to attack Bernal and power clear. 

After the stage, Yates revealed the GC had not been on his mind when he attacked 3km from the finish, saying he was in pursuit of a stage win after his team missed the day’s breakaway, not realising Bernal had been dropped until some time after his move. 

Yates was able to jump back onto the podium as he gained around 50 seconds on Bernal and Caruso, but he may lose sleep over the time he lost on stage 16. 

If Yates had not lost 2-37 to Bernal on Monday, he would now be just 40 seconds behind Bernal, rather than the 3-23 deficit he currently faces.

But with plenty more climbing to come, Yates may be able to take advantage of the cracks Bernal showed on stage 17. 

Dan Martin completes the set 

The 2021 Giro has been a bittersweet race for Israel Start-Up Nation, with alternating successes and disappointments for the team throughout the race. 

After losing Krists Neilands to a crash after the finish of the first stage, the team then took the maglia rosa with Alessandro De Marchi in the first week, before the Italian suffered serious injuries in a crash and was forced to abandon.

Alex Dowsett, the winner of ISN’s first ever Grand Tour stage in the Giro last year, was then forced to pull out due to illness, while their GC leader Dan Martin had steadily lost time over the course of the race.

But an ever-determined Martin made persistent efforts to make it into the breakaway in pursuit of stage victory, and on stage 17 the winds turned in his favour.

After struggling to make it into the day’s break, Martin emerged as the strongest rider on the final climb, dangling out front with just 90 seconds over the rapid group of GC favourites. 

But knowing the climb, Martin dug in until the final 2km where he finally decided to empty the tank to break the hearts of any stage hopefuls behind (including Simon Yates).   

Ciccone’s admirable pursuit ends in disappointment 

There was plenty of disappointment to be shared around after stage 17, but potentially none so justified as Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo). 

Ciccone started the day in sixth place, having been a consistent performer, but day 17 proved to be testing in more ways than one.

After suffering a mechanical mid-way through the stage, Ciccone was caught up in a crash on a descent in the final 30km of the stage - an inopportune moment as the peloton powered towards the final climb of the day.

Despite being able to hop back on his bike, Ciccone still found himself 30 seconds behind the bunch, with the pace high in anticipation of Sega di Ala. 

Finally Ciccone was able to re-join the bunch, after another bike change at the tail end of the team car convoy, but the effort had taken its toll.

He was then dropped early on the climb and looked to be in no shape to keep up with the GC favourites. 

By the finish, Ciccone had lost around seven minutes to the top favourites, as he now sits in 10th place overall, 11 minutes off the race lead

But he wasn’t the only loser on another brutal day of climbing in Italy.

Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) struggled in the heat and lost contact with the Bernal and Yates group in the final few kilometres, battling to finish three minutes down on his rivals, slipping back to fifth place overall, 6-09 away from the maglia rosa. 

Swap in fortunes for Deceuninck - Quick-Step 

Belgian squad Deceuninck - Quick-Step have had a rollercoaster Giro so far, as they have fully turned their focus to general classification hopes.

Remco Evenepoel entered their race as one of the clear favourites, despite his nine-month absence from racing due to injury, while Joao Almeida returned having led the race for two weeks last year.

While Evenepoel glowed in the first week of the race, he suddenly began to lose huge chunks of time in the second week and eventually fell out of the GC race completely on stage 16 on Monday.

Meanwhile Almeida, who lost time in the opening stages, has been resurgent in the final week of the Giro after he pulled himself back into the top-10 from the breakaway in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

>>> Egan Bernal: If I win the Giro d'Italia with one second or two minutes for me it would be the same

The riders’ fortunes have fully reversed now with four days left, as Evenepoel was caught in the same crash as Ciccone in the final 30km, being sent over the roadside barrier. After he was attended by medical staff, Evenepoel got back on the bike and rode in to the finish with the grupetto, as he now sits an hour down on GC.

Almeida however was one of the three strongest riders in the top-10 on stage 17, launching his own successful attack and sticking with Yates and Bernal in the final few kilometres.  

The Portuguese rider then left Yates behind to gain further time, finishing second on the stage just 13 seconds behind the winner Martin. 

Almeida now sits eighth overall, 8-45 off the race lead, but is within two minutes of Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) in fourth, which means matching his fourth-place finish from last season is still a realistic dream. 

Simon Yates says the maglia rosa is now beyond him at the Giro d'Italia, after losing time on stage 16, and will now aim to take a podium spot, which is still "well within reach".

“It was a difficult stage, not what I was looking for, but I did my best," the BikeExchange rider said after the finish. "The victory is a bit far away now, but the podium is still well within reach, so we’ll keep the head up, keep the chin up and go from there."

Yates was distanced on the Passo Giau, the day's major test, and eventually finished 11th, losing 2-37 to stage winner Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), two minutes to second-place Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), and over a minute to EF Education-Nippo's Hugh Carthy.

The result was the Brit slipping from second and a minute-and-a-half behind Bernal to fifth and four minutes adrift, but with plenty of uphill kilometres still to come in the final week of the Italian Grand Tour.

>>> As TV coverage ground to a halt, this fan live-streamed stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia on Instagram atop the Passo Giau

“It was a difficult stage, a little bit less difficult because we didn’t run the full stage. Lucky we didn’t as it was cold enough today and I think they (RSC race organisers) made the correct decision," Yates' sports director Matt White said. "It was cold and if we had gone over those other two passes in those temperatures, we would have seen even bigger gaps, so I think it was the best decision for rider safety."

White says that Yates and the team will now reset and get ready to go on the offensive as they try to claim a podium spot before arriving in Milan.

"With us, it didn’t go as planned. You have to manage your bad days; they are just as important as managing your good days. There’s still a lot of racing to come, there’s a well-deserved rest day tomorrow and then we press reset and attack our last block before Milan.”

Who can stop Bernal?

After the test of Monte Zoncolan, no-one appears capable of snatching Egan Bernal’s pink jersey.

The Colombian increased his overall lead from 45 seconds to 1-33 with seven stages to go, courtesy of his own imperious performance and the faltering of his rivals behind.

All those concerns about his back are now extinguished. The struggles he endured with fame and pressure after winning the Tour de France are now managed. A week remains in the Giro d’Italia, but it’s safe to say Bernal has never looked stronger. 

Aided by his excellent Ineos Grenadiers team-mates who set a searing pace up the mountain, Bernal is reading the stages well, timing his attacks correctly, and measuring his efforts. He’s performing like the serial Grand Tour winner we all thought he would become two summers ago.

He didn’t win atop Zoncolan, but rarely have we seen him in better shape than on the hellishly-tough gradients. It’s his maglia rosa to surrender.

But Yates bites back

Bernal moved away from his general classification rivals when he followed the attack of Simon Yates inside the final 1,500m.

While Bernal grinned and gurned behind the BikeExchange rider, Yates had a poker face that didn’t etch pain and anguish.

Although he was eventually overtaken by Bernal and finished 11 seconds behind his Colombian rival, crucially for the Briton he gained a good chunk of time on another of fellow GC men to jump from fifth to second in the overall standings. 

There had been talk and mutterings in the past fortnight if Yates was biding his time before attacking in the Giro, perhaps scarred by the 2018 edition of this very Grand Tour when his lightening start eventually gave way to a depleted body in the final throes of the race. 

The answer from Zoncolan is that, yes, Yates does appear to be peaking towards the end of the race this time around, an exciting prospect as we head into the final weeks and more beasts in the Dolomites. 

The unknown riding himself into folklore

Be honest, did you know who Lorenzo Fortunato was when you had your lunch on Saturday afternoon?

A 25-year-old ProTeam rider with no professional victories to his name and riding his maiden Grand Tour, you weren’t supposed to know him.

The Italian, however, will see his face plastered across national newspapers in his home country and spoken about around the world following his spectacular victory from the breakaway.

Fortunato was part of the day’s break that featured some of the best climbers on WorldTour teams including Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma).

 But none were a match for Fortunato, who honoured his terrific name by crossing the line some 26 seconds ahead of Jan Tratnik of Bahrain Victorious.

 The ride was a painful joy as he swung his bike, screamed for energy, was literally pushed by fans, and not only rode himself into cycling folklore, but scored EOLO-Kometa’s first win of the season.

Team owner Alberto Contador had promised he would ride from Madrid to Milan if the team took a stage victory; the two-time Giro winner better get pedalling now, then.

Not so much fun for Vlasov

Fortunato can celebrate his astounding achievement tonight, but Astana-Premier Tech’s Aleksandr Vlasov will not be soaking up any plaudits. 

The 25-year-old was second on GC this morning but finished 72 seconds adrift of Bernal to fall to fourth in the standings.

It’s not a nightmare, it’s not the end of the Russian’s aspirations for the win or even a podium that he is only seven seconds shy of, but it was an indication of his limits.

Such an exciting talent, there has still been somewhat of a mystery around his capabilities, and Zoncolan showed that when the road turns skywards and his rivals march on, while he doesn’t collapse, he isn’t quite able to keep pace with the efforts of Bernal.

Vlasov won’t be too disheartened and will back himself to take back time in the forthcoming stages, but his result will sting given the work his teammates did during the day at controlling the breakaway.

Small gaps in the race for best of the rest

Consolidating his status as the surprise package is Damiano Caruso who may have shipped 39 seconds to Egan Bernal but remained in third place.

The Bahrain-Victorious man is riding the race of his career and elevating himself into the position as the contender for Best of the Rest, the only GC rider other than Bernal and Yates in the stage’s top-10 

He finished seven seconds ahead of Mr Steady Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) and 15 seconds ahead of Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo). The pair didn’t cede an insurmountable time to the maglia rosa, but will need to attack and probably more than once if they are secure a spot on the podium in Milan.

>>> Simon Yates hints at problems in first week of Giro d’Italia 2021

Elsewhere, Remco Evenepoel managed to limit his losses after being dropped in the final few kilometres to now sit 3.52 back from Bernal in eighth, while there was a new entrant into the GC top-10 in the shape of Romain Bardet (Team DSM). 

We’re set for a thrilling final seven stages, with Bernal aiming to hold on, and just 63 seconds separating Yates in second from Buchmann in sixth.

Simon Yates has hinted at problems in the first week of the Giro d’Italia 2021, after he launched his first attack of the race.

The British Grand Tour star kicked clear of the general classification favourites in the final kilometres of Monte Zoncolan on stage 14, with only maglia rosa Egan Bernal able to follow. 

Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) still came out on top, countering Yates (Team BikeExhange) and extending his overall lead, but Yates was still able to propel himself to second overall by the summit. 

Yates was coy after the finish, but did hint that his quiet first week of the race was down to some sort of problems, which he preferred not to delve into. 

Winner of the 2018 Vuelta a España Yates said: “I won’t go into detail, but It wasn’t the best of the first weeks and now I’m feeling much better, so onwards and upwards.

“Legs are getting there. Slowly but surely. Bernal showed he’s the man to beat. It’s going to be difficult to beat him but we’ll keep trying.”

The 28-year-old had made it through the first week of the Giro without any disastrous time losses, but was uncharacteristically reserved in the bunch, holding off on his usual ambitious attacks. 

Yates’s tactics prompted many into believing it may be part of the BikeExchange tactics for their GC leader, keeping holding Yates back until the final week. 

But Yates’s comments after the stage may instead hint an issue with form or illness during the opening week. 

He now sits second overall in the 2021 edition, 1-33 behind Bernal. 

Yates famously lost the Giro d’Italia back in 2018, after leading the race for two weeks following a number of huge attacks, before he dramatically fell out of contention with just one mountain stage remaining. 

>>> Ethan Hayter takes final stage of Ruta del Sol 2021, as Miguel Ángel López wins overall 

Since then, he has won the Vuelta and has tried to adapt his Grand Tour racing style, riding more conservatively to save energy deeper into a three-week race.  

Simon Yates says he's happy with how he performed on the gravel roads of Tuscany during the 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2021 and that he's glad he rode Strade Bianche earlier in the season.

Yates (BikeExchange) has slowly been making his way up the overall standings and has gone under the radar a bit now that Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) have been seemingly the dominant riders.

However, Evenepoel slipped to seventh at 2-22 in the overall standings with Yates jumping above him to fifth a whole minute ahead of the young Belgian.

>>> Egan Bernal extends lead on the gravel roads of Giro d'Italia 2021 stage 11

Yates spoke after the stage: "It was a good day today looking at the situation with the GC. I have moved up to fifth overall now so onwards and upwards.

"It is was not one of the days I was looking forward to but I think I did a good ride there and had good legs, so I am looking forward to the days to come."

The British rider made his debut on the gravel roads of Strade Bianche this year as he looked to get used to the feel of the uneven surface. 

He finished 63rd then but it clearly helped as he came in 15th on the Giro stage just 26 seconds behind the pink jersey of Bernal, who finished third at Strade Bianche.

"It is not my favourite terrain, I don’t have any experience of riding off-road other than in Strade Bianche earlier in the year, which I think was very valuable in doing just for the experience and it helped me a lot today as well as doing the recon before the race. I am just happy to get through it really."

Yates may have learnt from past mistakes when he has gone all-in early and suffered for it later in the race. With 2018 being a perfect example when he lost almost half an hour on a flying Chris Froome (the Team Sky).

Stage 12 of the Giro is another day of climbing with the stage taking in four categorised climbs over 212km between Siena and Bagno di Romagna.

Bernal is back to his best

Has Egan Bernal at last put his back problems behind him?

He got through an intense day of undulating climbs with fresh enough legs to launch an explosive attack on the spectacular unpaved gravel roads at the top of the day’s final climb, and win what was, somewhat surprisingly, his first ever Grand Tour stage.

This was the best we’ve seen from Bernal since he won the yellow jersey almost two years ago. He was a class above the other GC contenders, and would likely have gained more time had the gravel section been longer. 

The signs are therefore very encouraging for the Colombian, but the real test of his back will come later in the race, where all the climbing in the final week will severely test the resilience of his back. He’s in pink for now though, and in this form, and with such a strong Ineos Grenadiers team to support him, it will be difficult for anyone to prise it off him.

Ciccone is a legitimate GC contender

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) was the only rider able to follow Bernal’s attack on the climb, and ultimately finished as best-of-the-rest in second-place at seven seconds, reiterating the notion that he is indeed a legitimate GC contender.

The Italian certainly didn’t start the Giro d'Italia racing like one, making several speculative attacks early in the week in his customary style. Having never before finished in the top fifteen of a Grand Tour, he was approaching the race as a chancer looking for stage wins, with apparently no interest in conserving energy for a GC challenge. 

But after performing surprisingly well on the earlier uphill finishes, Ciccone must now be rethinking his tactics to instead focus on the GC, and he passed the sternest test with flying colours, to move up from seventh to fourth overall.

As an Italian, he’ll be coming under increasing pressure from the tifosi to perform. With his teammate and the nation’s former great hope Vincenzo Nibali losing more time today, to slide to over two minutes down on GC, he is the standout contender from the home nation to compete for victory (Damiano Caruso and Davide Formolo are the only other Italians in the top ten, at 45 seconds and 1-01 respectively). 

That’s a big ask for someone with so little Grand Tour pedigree, but if Ciccone continues riding like he has done so far, overall victory might just be a possibility. 

Simon Yates continues to ride passively but steadily

We’re used to watching Simon Yates put in swashbuckling attacks on short, steep climbs like the stage nine finish, but once again he rode defensively, not putting his nose to the wind at the front, but also ensuring he isn’t dropped.

These rides are in stark contrast to how he approached the 2018 Giro d’Italia, where he won three stages and wore the pink jersey for most of the race, but given the way he ran out of gas in the final week of that race, maybe that’s a good thing for his overall chances.

The big question is whether Yates is playing a clever game of preserving energy and holding back by choice, or if he wants to follow the attacks from Bernal but is unable to?

He lost another twelve seconds to Bernal today, plus bonus seconds, meaning he now lies 55 seconds down on GC in ninth — hardly ideal, but hardly fatal either. 

For now he remains well in contention for overall victory, but we won’t have a clear idea of where his form is until the really big mountains later in the race. 

The GC remains wide open

As dominant as Bernal was, there are still plenty of overall contenders very close to his time on GC, meaning the race for pink remains wide open.

Most notably Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) is still going very well in his debut Grand Tour, recovering from a poor position on the final climb to finish fourth, and remain second overall. 

Alexander Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) also again looked very strong today, finishing third behind Bernal and Ciccone to climb to third on GC. Like Evenepoel, he’s also unproven as a Grand Tour contender, so we don’t really know what to expect of him in the next two weeks, but watching it unfold will be very exciting. 

And we shouldn’t yet discount the chances of Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo), Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) or even the resurgent Romain Bardet (DSM). All three again limited their losses today, and all three have in the past gone very well during the final week of Grand Tours. 

Bahrain Victorious again thwarted by crash but keep GC hopes alive

Bahrain-Victorious have responded admirably to Mikel Landa’s abandonment on stage five. The very next day following the abrupt end of Landa’s GC hopes — which had been their sole goal before the race — they bounced back with a stage win from Gino Mäder, immediately salvaging a race that had just 24 hours earlier appeared in tatters. 

Not content with just that stage win, they also still harbour hopes in the overall classification, with Damiano Caruso ending stage nine still well up there on GC.

On stage nine, they went about improving Caruso’s position, and did so with boldly attacking tactics, with the Italian attacking near the start of the stage along with teammates Mäder and Matej Mohorič. 

>>> 'I cannot believe what just happened': Egan Bernal in disbelief after first Grand Tour stage win at Giro d'Italia 2021

It was a thrilling move, and threatened to spark the GC race into life far earlier than expected. But then disaster struck, and Mohorič hit the deck hard on his head, abandoning the race with fears of concussion. Without his skills on the descent, the attack lost momentum, and Caruso was neutralised and brought back by the peloton.

Nevertheless, Caruso still managed to perform very well on the finishing climb, finishing sixth and losing just 12 seconds to Bernal, keeping him in the mix at 7th overall on GC. With him still in contention, Bahrain-Victorious’ GC hopes aren’t over yet, and we wait with bated breath to see what they’ll try next. 

Simon Yates is a two time Grand Tour winner who rides for the Dutch Visma Lease A Bike team. Having won the 2025 Giro d'Italia with a long distance attack on the penultimate stage of the race, he became one of only two British riders to have one multiple Grand Tours - the other being Chris Froome.

Yates's previous Grand Tour win was the 2018 Vuelta A España.

Watch: Show us your scars - Simon Yates

Simon Yates comes into the Giro d'Italia 2021 to try and make it fourth time lucky after falling short on his previous rides of the Italian Grand Tour, but says he is wary of past failings in week three.

Yates (BikeExchange) comes into the race, yet again, as one of the top favourites after a very impressive performance at the recent Tour of the Alps where he beat rivals such as fellow Brit Hugh Carthy (EF-Nippo) as well as Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), and Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) to overall victory.

The British rider from Bury has, in the past, come out of the traps all guns blazing, especially in 2018 when he took three stage wins but he suffered in the final week, slipping out of pink to 21st with Chris Froome (then Team Sky) taking the overall win.

>>> Five things to look out for at the Giro d'Italia week one

When asked in a pre-race press conference about his tactics he said: "We'll see, we have to see how the prologue goes first, I know it's a cliché but we take it day-by-day.

"I can't predict what's going to happen in the first, second, or third week but we'll try to do our best every day. It also depends on what the other teams' want to do and how they want to race. But of course, if there is an opportunity I will try and take it."

Yates' new motto for this year's race is that he and the team have to be "calm and cautious," repeating the phrase multiple times throughout the press conference, taking in that the entire race is a very difficult one this year.

He continued: "We have to be careful at all moments, save energy when we can but of course we have to try and win the race and for me, I will have to take some time at some point before the final time trial. We'll see how it goes but calm, cautious and we'll just try to do our best."

"It will be challenging and of course the stage with the gravel I'll be looking to avoid any mishaps, any crashes, any splits and really concentrate on later in the race."

The 2018 Vuelta a España winner suffered from more disappointment at the race in 2020 when he had to abandon due to catching Covid-19, but says he hopes for better luck in this year's edition with a very strong team around him that he trusts.

Yates will be hoping these past difficulties have helped him for this year's race as he looks to avoid the same things happening again.

"It's hard to say [where the race will be won], you look at the last few years the race has always been won in the third week. There are guys who come from nowhere to win the bike race. I know that very personally as well.

"I'm getting older, getting more experienced as time goes on so I hope I'm learning to manage myself better. We're also evolving as a team we haven't really been targeting the GC for that long compared to other teams so I hope we can learn those experiences from the past to try and help us win this Giro."

The Giro starts on Saturday, May 8 with an 8.6km individual time trial around the city of Turin before heading on a three-week adventure around mostly central and northern Italy. 

Sir Bradley Wiggins believes Simon Yates will take home the 2021 Giro d’Italia title, saying his “no nonsense attitude” will carry the Brit to victory.

Yates is chasing a second Grand Tour career victory to follow up on his 2018 Vuelta a España win, as the Giro kicks off in Turin on Saturday (May 8).

The 28-year-old came within days of victory in the Giro in 2018, before he dramatically fell out of contention in the final week.

Wiggins, the first British winner of the Tour de France, believes Yates is the man to take home the maglia rosa this year, making him the third British winner of Giro.

Former pro and now GCN presenter Wiggins told Cycling Weekly: “I just think I think Simon still has that air of strength about him in his no nonsense attitude, the way he gets on with things. He's not a big talker. He doesn't sort of shout from the rooftops about what he's going to do.” 

Yates, winner of the Tour of the Alps, faces some tough competition in Italy, most notably from bookies’ favourite Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), who has flown under the radar so far this year.

But Bernal has been dealing with back problems that hampered his 2020 season, which Wiggins feels may have knocked his confidence following his Tour de France win back in 2019. 

Wiggins said: “I think he’s lost that invincibility a little bit through his back problems last year.

“There was a period where whenever he went into a race he was the favourite for it.”

Wiggins added that Bernal was once the outright Tour de France leader for Ineos, but has since fallen down the order: “It shows that there's, there's an air of uncertainty around this form and fragility as well.” 

The 2021 Giro d’Italia start list is also stacked with British talent, as Yates is joined by the likes of GC contender Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) and climber James Knox (Deceuninck - Quick-Step). 

>>> Giro d’Italia 2021 route: Tough gravel stage, Monte Zoncolan summit finish and final time trial in Milan for 104th edition  

On the current wave of British talent, Wiggins said: “It’s brilliant and it’s a marker of where the sport is now. We’re blessed with so many great riders, all great personalities in their own right.” 

With GCN+ you can watch every km of the Giro live and ad free. For more details visit https://welcome.globalcyclingnetwork.com/giro  

Wiggins will be on hand throughout the Giro to offer more of his insight and analysis. 

Simon Yates can learn to ‘stand on his own feet’ after the departure of his brother from Team BikeExchange, according to sports director Laurenzo Lapage.

Adam Yates left the Australian WorldTour team at the end of the season to join Ineos Grenadiers, while twin brother Simon remained to chase his own general classification ambitions.

As the 2021 Giro d’Italia approaches, Simon has his eye on the pink jersey once again, hoping for redemption after his heart-breaking near-miss in 2018.

Speaking ahead of the Giro, BikeExchanges DS Lapage told cycling website Wielerflits: “Normally I always saw Simon as a doubter, who took a few years to get started. Adam was less like that, he always went straight for it. Simon was even scared at times. But he had gained so much confidence in the run-up to that [2018] Giro that he let himself be guided too much by his enthusiasm.”

>>> How to watch the Giro d’Italia 2021: Live stream the first Grand Tour of the season  

Lapage added: “I never thought they would leave each other, I have to say that.

“I think that Simon can now learn to stand on his own two feet more and will therefore less shadow his brother. That will please him.”

The British pair, now 28 years old, both started their WorldTour careers with BikeExchange, then Orica GreenEdge, back in 2014, each achieving their own successes.

Simon has since won the Vuelta a España, Tirreno-Adriatico, stages of both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, and most recently the 2021 Tour of the Alps, while Adam has a collection of his own stage race victories, incuding the 2021 Volta a Catalunya with Ineos.

Speaking ahead of the 2021 Giro, Simon said: “The Giro d’Italia is a race that I really enjoy. I hope this year I can have clear run and a good go at fighting for the win and we have a very strong team to try to do that.

“This year the route looks very hard, of course there are some differences to the previous years that I have raced at the Giro d’Italia. It is book-ended with two time trials and time trials are not my speciality, so we will try to limit the losses there.”

>>> Giro d’Italia 2021 start list: The line-ups for the 104th edition 

Head sports director at BikeExchange said: “There’s no surprise that we have put a lot of effort into preparing for this year’s Giro d’Italia, Simon is one of the favourites going into the race and we are relishing the challenge. We have built a team around him which has a very good balance of experience and youth and I know the entire team is excited about going up against the best riders in the world as we support our leader to the maximum in this year’s edition.”

Team BikeExchange squad for the Giro d’Italia 2021

Michael Hepburn (AUS)

Chris Juul-Jensen (DEN)

Tanel Kangert (EST)

Cameron Meyer (AUS)

Mikel Nieve (SPA)

Nick Schultz (AUS)

Callum Scotson (AUS)

Simon Yates (GBr)

This year’s Giro d’Italia will feature some of the most exciting talents in cycling, all battling for the first Grand Tour victory of 2021 - but who is the bookmakers’s favourites?

As the Giro gets under way in Turin on May 8, we’ll see the likes of Egan Bernal, Simon Yates, Remco Evenepoel and Romain Bardet also chasing the famous pink jersey on the roads of Italy.

This year’s edition looks like a wide open race and we could be in for some thrills and surprises over the three weeks - here’s who the bookies are expecting to thrive:

The bookies’s favourite to win this year’s Giro is Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), the winner of the 2019 Tour de France, with odds of 11/4.

Bernal has been quiet so far this season, having last raced in mid-March and not winning a race August 2020.

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The Colombian has been dealing with back problems which forced him out of last year’s Tour de France, but showed promising signs earlier this year, finishing with a third-place overall finish in the Tour de la Provence where he finished second on the Mont Ventoux/Chalet Reynard stage, and third place in Strade Bianche.

But the Giro will be the first race for the 24-year-old since Tirreno-Adriatico on March 16, where he finished fourth overall.

The next in line to take the pink jersey, according to the bookmakers, is British rider Simon Yates, winner of the 2018 Vuelta a España.

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Yates has unfinished business in Italy after coming within days of victory back in 2018 before he dramatically fell out of contention.

The Team BikeExchange rider currently has odds of 7/2 to win his second Grand Tour.

Yates took his first wins of the season in the Tour of the Alps earlier this month, winning stage two and securing the overall with strong displays on some tough climbs.

After his victory in the Vuelta, Yates hasn’t challenged for an overall Grand Tour title, his best result coming in the 2019 Giro where he finished eighth.

Third favourite to win the 2021 Giro title is Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) at 5/1, who has lived up to the hype over the last few seasons after joining the WorldTour at 18 years old to great fanfare in 2019.

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But the 21-year-old Belgian hasn’t raced since August 2020, after he suffered serious injuries in a crash at Il Lombardia, which has left him with ongoing issues.

The superstar rider plans is training at altitude and will make his racing return at the Giro, so victory in his first ever Grand Tour and his first race for nine months would be quite a feat.

Further down the list of bookies’s favourites, we have Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) at 12/1, Britain’s Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) at 16/1, and Alexander Vlasov (Astana) also at 16/1.

Giro d’Italia 2021 odds (Winner- Oddschecker

Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, at 11/4

Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange, at 7/2

Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, 5/1

Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 12/1

Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at 16/1

Alexander Vlasov (Rus) Astana, at 16/1

Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers, at 20/1

Jai Hindley (Aus) Team DSM, at 33/1

Daniel Martínez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, 33/1

Joâo Almeida (Por) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 33/1

All odds correct at time of publication

Simon Yates took the overall title after stage five of the Tour of the Alps 2021 with Felix Großschartner holding on from the breakaway to cross the line first and take the stage victory.

Yates' squad, Team BikeExchange, had control of the race for almost the entire day despite 16 riders including Irishman Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) going clear in the breakaway. Almost all of the break was brought back on the final climb with Yates's team-mates neutralising any attack.

Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) attacked the leading group at the base of the final climb to go clear from the rest with no-one able to follow the Austrian climber. He quickly pulled out a convincing lead and descended to victory.

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Nicolas Roche (DSM) and Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-Up Nation) tried to hold off the peloton to take the podium spaces on the stage with Roche managing to out-sprint De Marchi.

Yates finished comfortably within the peloton along with Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) who stayed at 58 seconds and 1-06 in GC.

How it happened

The stage started in the town of Idroland at Valle del Chiese before tackling the five climbs of the day during the 120.9km, only two of the climbs were categorised on the way to Riva del Garda.

The peloton passed the finish line three times before the finish as the riders took on the Lago di Tenno climb twice, with just the first passage giving out points in the mountains competition. The other categorised climb on the day came earlier on the Passo Duron.

A huge breakaway of 16 riders got away including potential threats to the overall including Martin who slipped down the general classification on stage four after crashing on the fast descent. He started the day just over four minutes down in 14th place.

The break held a maximum gap of three minutes but was not giving much breathing space due to the dangerous riders in the general classification.

The break broke down with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Roche, De Marchi, Georg Steinhauser (Tirol-KTM), Großschartner, Tony Gallopin (Ag2r-Citroën) and Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural) going clear before the first ascent of the Tenno climb.

Trek-Segafredo were put onto the front to chase down the break to try and go for the stage but they had just over two minutes with 38km to go. Astana-Premier Tech started really pushing the tempo with Luis León Sánchez leading birthday boy Aleksandr Vlasov to maybe set up an attack at the 32km to go mark.

Nothing came of that move and BikeExchange retook control of the peloton on the descent down to the second of three passages of the finish line.

The chasing group were slowly catching the leaders had Martin in there as well as Iván Sosa (Ineos Grenadiers), Michael Storer (DSM), Matteo Fabbro (Bora-Hansgrohe), Vadim Pronskiy (Astana-Premier Tech) and Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain Victorious) but they struggled to make it across.

Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) attacked on the first descent of the Tenno climb and really committed to the chase, almost overcooking a sharp hairpin on the way down. He caught Martin on the valley bottom.

The leaders were working well together coming into the second ascent of the Tenno with 22km to go, they held just over a minute on the chasing peloton as they crossed the finish line for the penultimate time.

Most of the chasing groups were brought back before the final ascent. This included Brambilla and Martin as well as Sosa’s group. Storer hit out alone to try and bridge to the leaders.

Storer managed to get across to the leaders on the early slopes of the climb but Großschartner had launched an early attack. Pinot and Steinhauser got dropped straight away. Amezqueta and Roche then lost touch as Gallopin and De Marchi continued the chase of the Austrian climber.

But Großschartner only held about 40 seconds back to the chasing peloton that was still being led by Yates’ team of BikeExchange with Ineos Grenadiers following closely. An Astana-Premier Tech rider clipped a wheel and went down hard taking out several riders on the climb, most of the riders fighting for the overall managed to avoid the spill with 17km to go.

The Austrian extended his lead again thanks to his fast pace pushing the gap to Roche and De Marchi to 43 seconds and 1-30 back to the peloton. The first attack went away with Alejandro Osorio (Caja Rural) launching the first move from the peloton.

Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and Ruben Guerreiro (EF-Nippo) then countered that but BikeExchange controlled everything to calm the pacing down. At the 13km to go mark as Großschartner went over the top.

Großschartner held on all the way to the line with Roche and De Marchi managing to hold off the peloton to fill the podium spots on the stage. Yates finished comfortably within the peloton alongside the podium sitters of Bilbao and Vlasov.

Yates and a lot of the other riders in the race will now turn their attention towards the fight for pink at the first Grand Tour of the season at the Giro d'Italia which kicks off on May 8.

Results

Tour of the Alps 2021 stage five, Valle del Chiese/Idroland to Riva del Garda (120.9km)

1. Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 3-03-38

2. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM, at 34 seconds

3. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation, at same time

4. Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, at 40s

5. Alejandro Osorio (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

6. Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM

7. Luis León Sánchez (Esp) Astana-Premier Tech

8. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo

9. Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain Victorious

10. Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe, all at same time.

Final general classification

1. Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange, in 18-36-06

2. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, at 58 seconds

3. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech, at 1-06

4. Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, at 2-25

5. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at 2-37

6. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers, at 2-44

7. Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkéa-Samsic, at 2-54

8. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo, at 3-12

9. Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM, at same time

10. Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange, at 3-36.

Pello Bilbao took victory on stage four of the Tour of the Alps 2021 after an astonishing descending display to bridge to the race leaders before beating them in a three-up sprint to the line. Simon Yates finished third behind Bilbao and Aleksandr Vlasov to extend his overall lead of the race with one stage to go.

Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) was distanced on the final climb by Yates (BikeExchange) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) but managed to use his superior skills on the downhill to get back to the duo up front in the final 2kmm before then attacking around them into the last kilometre to sprint to the win.

The pace was very high throughout the day with Team BikeExchange working hard for Yates to try and extend his overall lead and potentially take the stage.

It took a long time for the breakaway to get away with a group of nine riders finally going clear, including Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation).

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Yates managed to extend his lead in the overall standings as second place Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) had a very poor day, dropping down to fifth at the stage finish. Yates now leads by 58 seconds ahead of Bilbao going into the final stage.

Bilbao was very keen to take the win on this stage as April 22 marks the anniversary of the death of his former Astana team-mate Michele Scarponi who died on a training ride four years ago today.

How it happened

Stage four of the Tour of the Alps 2021 started in the finish town of yesterday’s stage, Naturno before the peloton tackled a mountainous 168.6km route, taking on three climbs before the finish Pieve di Bono.

Various riders tried to get up in the break at the start of the day with the first break getting brought back on the initial climb before a nine-man group finally stayed away, pulling out a gap of 2-30 to the peloton.

The nine escapees were Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation), Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Trek-Segafredo), Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), Márton Dina (Eolo-Kometa), Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain Victorious), Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Premier Tech), Nicolas Roche (DSM), and Nicolas Prodhomme (Ag2r-Citroën).

Yates’ squad, Team BikeExchange, were working hard for the British rider who went into the penultimate stage of the race with a 45-second lead over defending champion Sivakov.

The break didn’t manage to hold much of an advantage over the peloton into the closing 40km with the gap yoyoing around 40 seconds to a minute as they headed towards the final climb of the Boniprati.

It was all brought back together with 19km to go just before the final climb as Ineos Grenadiers, Bora-Hansgrohe, Israel Start-Up Nation and Astana-Premier Tech swamped BikeExchange at the front of the peloton on the run into the bottom.

Arkéa-Samsic took over to pace for their leader Nairo Quintana with Winner Anacona leading the Ineos Grenadiers train 15km from the finish. After Anacona dropped off the front it was the return of the Ineos Grenadiers mountain train, setting a hellishly high pace and dropping riders out of the back and discouraging attacks.

Hugh Carthy (EF-Nippo) was the first rider out of the men in the overall fight to put in an attack. His attack put Sivakov in trouble with his team-mate, Dani Martínez having to drop back for his leader with 11km to go to the finish and 4km from the top of the climb.

Yates pulled Carthy back relatively quickly as Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) took over the pacing with the two British riders relaying through.

Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) was the next to hit out with 10km to go but Yates bridged across to the Russian. Carthy and Martin struggled to get back on terms with the leaders. Yates then took over the pacing immediately dropping Carthy.

Yates continued to set a vicious pace dropping Martin and putting Vlasov under pressure. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) was trying to bridge across with Carthy as Bilbao tried to hold onto his overall podium place.

Vlasov did work with Yates on the plateau at the top of the climb as they looked to pull away from Martin before starting the descent to the finish at the 7km to go mark. Vlasov led over the top of the climb onto the descent down to the finish with Yates.

Bilbao made it across to Martin on the descent with the Basque rider managing to defend his podium spot. Martin tried to follow Bilbao and crashed on a very tight bend. Bilbao used his accomplished descending skills to bridge all the way back up to Vlasov and Yates with just 2km to go.

Bilbao then decided to attack Yates and Vlasov going into the final kilometre which put Vlasov in difficulty and dropping him off the back. Yates also struggled to follow the Bahrain-Victorious rider in the final 800 metres.

Bilbao opened up the sprint as Vlasov made it back on in the final few hundred metres. Yates sat up after Bilbao moved towards the barriers slightly, allowing Vlasov to come through to take second on the day with Bilbao taking the win. After the stage, Bilbao dedicated his win to his former team-mate Michele Scarponi.

The final stage of the race starts in Idroland before tackling five mountain passes. The last two are the same as the race takes on two laps of a finishing course that includes the 10km climb up the Lago di Tenno before a descent the finish in Riva del Garda after 120.9km.

Results

Tour of the Alps 2021, stage four: Naturno to Pieve di Bono (168.6km)

1. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, in 4-39-42

2. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech

3. Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange, all at same time

4. Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkéa-Samsic, at 58s

5. Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, at 1-06

6. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at same time

7. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo, at 1-16

8. Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM

9. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, all at same time

10. Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 1-22

General classification after stage four

1. Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange, in 15-31-48

2. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, at 58 seconds

3. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech, at 1-06

4. Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, 2-18

5. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers, 2-37

6. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at same time

7. Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkéa-Samsic, at 2-54

8. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo, at 3-12

9. Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM, at same time

10. Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange, at 3-36

Simon Yates won stage two of the Tour of the Alps 2021 with a very impressive 25km solo effort after attacking multiple times to drop all his rivals on the penultimate climb.

Yates (BikeExchange) put in his attacks after Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) tried multiple times too. Defending champion Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) was the last man to hold on the longest to the British rider.

Sivakov attacked on the final climb after being caught by a large group at the base of the climb where the Russian held on to take second on the day 40 seconds down on Yates.

Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) led in a group of three a few seconds later to take third on the day. Yates takes the overall lead as well as the stage by an impressive margin of 45 seconds going into stage three tomorrow.

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How it happened

The second stage of the Tour of the Alps 2021 started in the finish city of stage one in Innsbruck before taking on four climbs, two of which were categorised before finishing in Feichten im Kaunertal after 121.5km.

Six riders got away eventually after a fast start, Felix Engelhardt (Tirol-KTM) made it up there for the second day in a row taking maximum points in the intermediate sprint to hold his red intermediate sprints jersey.

The other five riders in the break were Reuben Thompson (Groupama-FDJ), Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg (Qhubeka-Assos), Mathias Vacek (Gazprom-RusVelo), Morten Hulgaard (Uno-X) and Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa), who got a maximum gap of three minutes.

Janse Van Rensburg lost touch on the first categorised climb of the Gachenblinck-Piller Sattel and faded back into the peloton with 55km to go. Thompson went clear to take maximum points on the first climb and pushed on with Bais over the top with 44km to go with the gap at 2-30.

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Ineos Grenadiers led the peloton throughout the day with Salvatore Puccio leading the way for the vast majority of the race alongside fellow Italian and team-mate Leonardo Basso.

At the 35km to go mark Thompson and Bais had a 22-second lead on the descent to the rest of the breakaway and pulled the gap back to the peloton up to over two minutes again. They hit the second ascent of the Kaunergrat side of the Piller Sattel with 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the break and two minutes to the peloton at 29km to go.

Ineos Grenadiers led onto the climb but Arkéa-Samsic came to the front en-masse for their leader Quintana with the time gap plummeting to the leaders, who were dragged back with 26km to go.

Winner Anacona (Arkéa-Samsic) was drilling the pace up the climb with Quintana on his wheel as the snow started to fall lightly on the riders. Quintana attacked with 24km to go, Dani Martínez, Sivakov and Iván Sosa (all Ineos Grenadiers) all able to follow.

Sivakov countered that with Quintana following. Hugh Carthy (EF-Nippo) tried to launch across to the leaders but that dragged the rest back. Quintana kicked a third time with Carthy and Sivakov going with it.

Jefferson Cepeda (Androni), Yates, Jai Hindley (DSM), and about 15 others managed to stay with it. Martínez countered the next move but Yates led everyone back before having a go himself.

The Yates surge saw the peloton crack dramatically with just Sivakov, Carthy and Quintana able to follow with 24km to go. Yates then put in a huge attack that dropped both fellow Brit Carthy as well as Quintana. Sivakov made it across to stay with Yates though.

Yates upped the cadence again and this time the rider from Bury managed to leave the Russian Ineos Grenadiers rider. Sivakov dropped back to Carthy and Quintana very quickly as Yates went over the top of the climb with 21km to go holding a gap of 20 seconds.

Behind, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) and Romain Bardet (DSM) made it to the chasing trio at the bottom of the descent. Bardet attacked straight away but was brought back as the group swelled to 15 riders with 9km to go. Yates continued to hold 45 seconds.

Alejandro Osorio (Caja-Rural) and Martínez went clear from that group before being joined by Hindley, Cepeda and Ruben Guerreiro (EF-Nippo) with 8km to go. Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech), Sivakov, and Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) joined them but they just continued attacking each other.

It finally snapped allowing Sivakov, Vlasov, Hindley, Martin, and Cepeda to get away as they started working hard to catch Yates who was 44 seconds further up the road.

Sivakov attacked the chase group and went clear with Cepeda before dropping the young Ecuadorian and going clear in the final 4km. Sivakov held on for second with Martin and Vlasov catching and beating Cepeda to the line.

Yates rode on to win the stage by 41 seconds, taking a 45 second lead in the general classification over Sivakov going into stage three which is likely to suit the punchy sprinters on a hilly route from Imst to Naturno over 162km.

Results

Tour of the Alps 2021, stage two: Innsbruck to Feichten im Kaunertal (121.5km)

1. Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange, in 3-17-42

2. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers, at 41 seconds

3. Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation, at 58s

4. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech

5. Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, all at same time

6. Jai Hindley (Aus) Team DSM, at 1-17

7. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at same time

8. Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange, at 1-42

9. Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM

10. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo, all at same time.

General classification after stage two

1. Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange, in 6-46-56

2. Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers, at 45s

3. Dan Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation, at 1-04

4. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech, at 1-08

5. Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, at same time

6. Jai Hindley (Aus) Team DSM, at 1-27

7. Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, at same time

8. Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange, at 1-52

9. Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo

10. Pello Bilbao (Esp) Bahrain Victorious, all at same time.