Radsport – Giro d’Italia: Simon Yates – a winner of the old school

It was a historical picture. With the pink jersey, which he had only secured the evening before, Simon Yates was at the end of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday next to a gentleman dressed in white. It was not the carrier of the jerseys for the best young professional, which is also kept in the color of innocence: the man’s textile next to the rosa -colored British from Bury was much more opulent. It decorated Pope Leo XIV, who welcomed the peloton in the Vatican state at the beginning of the 21st and last stage of the Giro d’Italia.

It was surprising that Yates was able to experience the ceremony from the perspective of the overall leader. Because for 19 days the tour captain from the Visma team had been hidden in the driver field. In no one sprint he stuck out his nose, and he did not win a stage in the Giro. This meant that he was able to avoid energy -raving media dates and panel pages. The 32-year-old also saved the battle for bonus customers. “The others are more explosive,” explained this waiver.

His style was the opposite of spectacular. Main competitor Isaac del Toro, on the other hand, threw himself into every little fight with the carefree of the youth. The Mexican collected 52 bonus customers via intermediate sprints – and then joked something about the fear of the elderly about this type of energy waste. In the end, the old concerns were right. With Yates, a tour driver of the old school won, one who deeply internalized the thoughts of “saving strength”. »The Giro is structured in such a way that the decision only falls in the third week anyway. Before that, you have to avoid mistakes and don’t lose time, ”he described his concept.

Yates adhered to this plan – and concentrated all resources on the decisive day. He started on Saturday at the Colle Delle Delle Delle Finestre and, thanks to his determination, brought out more than five minutes. The 52 bonus customers of the 21-year-old del Toro look tiny against this blow. And a historical dimension has that Yates succeeded in the mountain of all places where he had suffered his greatest defeat so far as a cycling professional. In 2018 he lost the Giro here, after 13 days in Rosa. At that time he collapsed completely and ultimately lost almost 40 minutes to his compatriot Chris Froome, who made his Giro triumph perfect. »This increase has drawn my career. And when the route became known, I decided to try something special here, «he said.

Yates does not look back as a triumphant. Rather, he admitted doubts at the beginning of the stage. It was only when he was able to solve himself from his main rivals del Toro and Richard Carapaz, who stood on the podium in Rome, that he was committed to being able to win here. “I noticed that I was able to drive a high pace and also last to the finish,” he said.

With the weapons of a climber who likes the long edges and whose muscles can provide the strength primarily for a steady pace, he defeated the more explosive opponents. A circle closed for him after seven years: “All the privation, all the setbacks that I had to take this way are now forgotten.” Tears ran over the face of the cycling veteran. With the crowning glory of his career, Yates brought the top podium at the Grand Tours after a break of several years when Slovenia, Danes and Colombians, in particular, at the same time.