Simon yates atones for past heartbreak as he claims giro d'italia glory in rome

SIMON YATES PREVIOUSLY ENDURED A NEAR MISS IN THE GIRO D'ITALIA BUT SEVEN YEARS ON FROM THAT DISAPPOINTMENT HE CLAIMED GLORY AS HE RODE INTO ROME TO CLAIM ANOTHER GRAND TOUR SUCCESS

18:14, 01 Jun 2025 His tears fell like melting Alpine snow on the forbidding slopes where imminent triumph had evaporated seven years ago. It was on the Colle delle Finestre, with the Giro

d’Italia’s fabled maglia rosa (pink jersey) at his mercy, that Simon Yates cracked in 2018 and fellow Brit Chris Froome disappeared over the horizon on a stunning 50-mile solo breakaway. But

as Yates rode into Rome as Britain’s 12th Grand Tour winner since 2012, this time he was pretty in pink. If the Finestre had broken his resolve when Va Va Froome’s ambush left him 38

minutes down the road, this time it was a 7,146ft monument to Yates's spirit. When historians compile their dossiers on a golden age for British cycling, the pages will show that only

all-time great Froome has won more Grand Tours than the Boy from Bury. And unsung or not, Yates will take his place in the pantheon of our blazing saddles on the road. Sir Bradley Wiggins

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Froome’s indefatigable stamina brought him four Yellow Jerseys between 2013-17, two Vuelta titles in Spain and that Giro heist when he overhauled Yates. Geraint Thomas, for so long Froome’s

loyal sidekick on Le Tour, finally scaled the top step of the podium on the Champs Elysees in 2018 - and Thomas the flank engine was runner-up the following year. Article continues below And

if Tao Geoghegan Hart’s maglia rosa in the 2020 Giro is largely forgotten more than amnesia itself, he has since managed only one top 20 finish on a Grand Tour to back it up. But Yates, 32,

now belongs in the top bracket with Froome. Four months after he cracked on the Finestre, winning a maiden Grand Tour at the Vuelta in Spain was a glittering consolation, but he never

abandoned his mission to come back to the Giro and be tickled pink. Climbing the beast of Piedmont in 59min 22sec, the first man to reach the summit in less than an hour, he dissolved into

tears when the enormity of his achievement sunk in. And even the stoniest, coldest heart would deny his right to turn on the taps after leaving Mexico’s overnight leader Isaac del Toro and

Richard Carapaz in his slipstream. "I'm still a bit speechless that I was able to do it. I'm not really an emotional person but I couldn't hold back the tears,” said

Yates, whose sensational ride denied his twin brother Adam, Del Toro’s UAE Team Emirates lieutenant, the laurels. Rising above the emotional whiplash, Adam Yates shrugged: "If it had to

be anyone, it would be my brother. I'm happy for him, I can still congratulate him and celebrate a little. If one person rides so crazy, whether it's Pogacar or my brother, and

someone has better legs than you on the day, you have to take the blow on the jaw and accept it. We can't be disappointed." The 11.5-mile climb up the Finestre, with a

lung-bursting average gradient of 9.2 per cent, took Yates above the snow line. More importantly, he overturned Del Toro’s 81-second advantage, converted it into a 1min 41sec lead and his

brilliant Visma/Lease A Bike team-mate Wout van Aert’s inspired escort did the rest. Del Toro’s UAE Team Emirates were caught asleep at the handlebars, with baffled onlooker Thomas tweeting

in disbelief: “What is going on?” Article continues below But as Yates wheeled into the Eternal City, simultaneously he landed in the rarefied atmosphere of Britain’s greatest riders.