Adam Yates has spoken about his brother Simon’s Giro d’Italia victory, saying that his own UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad can be “proud” of the way they rode the race despite losing the pink jersey on the penultimate stage.
Isaac del Toro held the race lead going into the Colle delle Finestre but crossed the finish line in Sestriere 45km later, almost four minutes off Simon Yates, following a stalemate between the Mexican and Richard Carapaz in the chase group.
Adam Yates, Del Toro’s teammate at UAE, said that the team had controlled the Giro throughout and “did a good race”, but noted that it’s always hard to keep control if there’s one “super strong” rider like Simon.
“I said yesterday [after stage 20] also that we did a good race. We controlled pretty much for three weeks straight without any help,” Yates told CyclingPro before Sunday’s closing stage in Rome.
“Even yesterday, me, Rafał, and Brandon were a little bit behind, but everyone else was alone, and we have guys that can support a leader. When you have one guy who’s super strong like that, it’s difficult to control.
“In the end, we did a good race, and I think we can be proud of how we rode. Isaac is still young, he’s 21. I even forget sometimes how young he is. I think he’s got a big future ahead of him and for sure many chances like this to come.”
Yates also said that he supports Simon, even if his employment means that his loyalty on Saturday lay with Del Toro rather than his brother.
He said he was “super happy” for Simon to win the Giro, with the victory meaning he could banish the bad memory of the 2018 race, where he held pink until the final weekend saw him crack badly two days in a row to end up finishing 21st.
“As I said yesterday, if anyone was going to win other than us, my favourite to win is Simon,” Yates said. “I’m super happy for him. All those years ago, when he lost the jersey in the last couple of stages, I think it’s been in his memory for a long time now.
“He’s tried many times and come up short, but he finally managed to pull it off, so chapeau.”
Yates jokingly admitted that he has catching up to do to match his brother’s Grand Tour palmarès.
“To be fair, he’s won a lot of races in his career already. It’s not easy. He’s won a Vuelta, he’s won all these races, I don’t know how many Giro stages he’s got already,” he said.
“He’s not a bad bike rider. Two Grand Tours – not many people have done that, I guess. I need to find one first of all, never mind catching up.
“I’m super happy for him and tonight I’ll also celebrate with him. “
