‘A perfect week for us’ – Adam Yates wraps up overall title in Romandie
Briton will now turn his focus to preparing for the Tour de France
![Adam Yates celebrates his Romandie victory in Geneva](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/B5fsfTV6K77VVrrAfLHoXY-415-80.jpg)
Adam Yates secured his first overall title since joining UAE Team Emirates this season when he finished safely in the bunch on the final stage of the Tour de Romandie, which concluded with a bunch sprint won by Movistar’s Fernando Gaviria. Having moved into the yellow jersey with victory on Saturday’s ‘queen’ stage to the ski station of Thyon 2000, the 30-year-old Briton finished the race 19 seconds clear of Gaviria’s team-mate Matteo Jorgenson, with Bahrain Victorious’ Damiano Caruso third and the hugely promising 20-year-old Briton Max Poole (Team DSM) in fourth.
‘Credit to the guys, they controlled the race perfectly today,’ said Yates, who was making his debut in the Swiss stage race and joked that he was delighted to end it with a 100% winning record. ‘It’s been a perfect week for us with two stage wins and the overall, so we can’t ask for much more,' he added, his mountain triumph coming the day after team-mate Juan Ayuso had been quickest in the 19km time trial.
Romandie was Yates’s first competitive outing since March’s Volta a Catalunya, where he was set back by injuries sustained in an opening day crash. ‘Winning here was the plan after the little break that I had that gave me a chance to recover from my crash in Catalunya,’ said the UAE climber. ‘We knew that there was a big mountain day that I could win. It’s easier said than done and much harder to put all of the pieces together, but in the end we managed to do it.’
Yates will now turn his attention to preparing for the Tour de France, where he will step back into a support role for two-time champion Tadej Pogačar. ‘I’ll have a small break now and then maybe do some altitude, and then step by step we’ll make my condition a little bit better and hopefully be ready for the big objective at the Tour de France,’ he said.
Gaviria, who has a one-year contract with Movistar after leaving UAE in the off-season, clinched his second victory for the Spanish team with a canny piece of sprinting. With 300 metres remaining, the Colombian accelerated to the front going into a sweeping right-hand bend and came out of it with a clear lead. The victory, his first in a WorldTour race since the 2021 Tour of Poland, took him to 51 career successes, level with Nairo Quintana as the leading Colombian winner of all time.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Peter Cossins has been writing about professional cycling since 1993, with his reporting appearing in numerous publications and websites including Cycling Weekly, Cycle Sport and Procycling - which he edited from 2006 to 2009. Peter is the author of several books on cycling - The Monuments, his history of cycling's five greatest one-day Classic races, was published in 2014, followed in 2015 by Alpe d’Huez, an appraisal of cycling’s greatest climb. Yellow Jersey - his celebration of the iconic Tour de France winner's jersey won the 2020 Telegraph Sports Book Awards Cycling Book of the Year Award.
-
Unbound Gravel lottery opens two months early, ensuring riders are 'more prepared than ever'
Registration for the 2025 Unbound Gravel will open on Friday, November 1, 2024, and close two weeks later, on November 15. Lottery winners will be announced on November 21, 2024.
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
Star triathlete Taylor Knibb to take on world's fastest cyclists in the Olympic time trial
Colorado-based 26-year-old Taylor Knibb will be representing Team USA in both the individual time trial and triathlon at the Paris Olympics.
By Kristin Jenny Published
-
A UAE Emirates Tour de France podium clean sweep is a real possibility
Adam Yates, Tadej Pogačar and João Almeida are all hitting form at the perfect time with the Florence Grand Départ fast approaching
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
João Almeida springs to Tour de Suisse stage six win as UAE Team Emirates dominate
On shortened day, Almeida wins as his teammate Adam Yates extends lead on other squads
By Adam Becket Published
-
Adam Yates wins Tour de Suisse stage five with virtuoso mountains performance
The Briton attacks to win solo, with team-mate Joāo Almeida coming in second
By James Shrubsall Published
-
Meet Vegard Stake Laengen, Tadej Pogačar's right-hand man at Grand Tours
The Norwegian bodyguard has been present in each of the Slovenian's Tour de France participations, and is now at the Giro d'Italia, too
By Adam Becket Published
-
2.28km in 2:55: The Tour de Romandie prologue which was over in a flash
Majority of riders opted for road bikes on technical course around the Swiss city of Payerne
By Adam Becket Published
-
'I pulled it off and turned everything around' - Brandon McNulty on the ride that changed him
US star grabbed his first ever Grand Tour win at last year’s Giro d’Italia
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'We were lucky with the weather': Brandon McNulty admits rain helped UAE Emirates edge Paris-Nice stage three team time trial
American pulled on the yellow jersey after a rain soaked finale to stage three in Auxerre
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
UAE Team Emirates power to team time trial victory on stage three of Paris-Nice
Team take advantage of more clement weather to put Finn Fisher-Black into yellow jersey
By Adam Becket Published