Simon Yates and Adam Yates have both signed contract extensions with Mitchelton-Scott until the end of the 2020 season as the Australian team fought off significant competition from other teams to retain the services of the Lancashire duo.
Both of the Yates twins have spent their entire professional careers at Mitchelton-Scott, having both turned professional with the team in 2014 and subsequently developed into Grand Tour contenders.
The two riders have only ridden one Grand Tour together - at the 2015 Tour de France - and have both finished fourth overall in the Tour de France and won the white jersey for the best young rider.
This season Simon Yates spent 13 days in the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia before losing more than an hour in the overall standings, while Adam Yates has taken top 10s in Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour of California, and the Critérium du Dauphiné.
The team's head sports director Matt White said that he was pleased to have the Yates brothers as part of the team for another two years as the team continues to target the general classification at Grand Tours.
“The decision was made with our owner Gerry Ryan back in 2013 that we wanted to evolve into a team that could ride for general classification,” White said. “We then went about identifying young talent we believed in and developed them within our unique culture.”
“It’s ongoing process, but we have certainly come a long way in a very short amount of time. In just ten Grand Tour attempts, we have already achieved two podiums and seven top-ten results.
“We are proud of what we have achieved so far and we have an unwavering belief in these two young men. With their returned faith, we know even bigger things are on the horizon.
“Along with Esteban Chaves, we have three of the most promising talents of this generation. That is a very exciting prospect for the team moving forward.”
Adam Yates is currently racing at the Tour de France, but has found himself falling down the general classification after struggling with hydration in the Alpine stages.
However despite this disappointment, he says that he and his brother are looking forward to continuing his development at the team and say no reason to change.
“It’s the best option, not just for me but for Simon,” Yates said. “We’ve been with the team from the beginning, we’ve had great success and the team has supported us every step of the way so there’s no reason to change and we are both really happy to stay.”
“We’ve already achieved some great results, we’ve both won the white jersey at the Tour and won a lot of races along the way. The team is still focussed on riding for the GC and we will continue to do that.
“Hopefully we can take the Grand Tour victory that the team want, and that we want. We just have to keep working and it’s going to happen.”
