- Yates took a lead of almost four minutes into the final stage and finished safely
- He effectively sealed his victory on Saturday after a stunning late solo attack
- Only a serious crash would have denied the Brit his second Grand Tour victory
Simon Yates admitted he was still struggling to believe the scale of his achievement after he sealed victory in the Giro d’Italia in Rome on Sunday.
Yates took a lead of almost four minutes into stage 21 – which began in Vatican City – and finished safely in the peloton as Visma-Lease a Bike team-mate Olav Kooij came out on top in a sprint finish.
Yates had effectively sealed victory in the gruelling three-week race on Saturday’s penultimate stage, when he exorcised his personal demons on the Colle delle Finestre with a stunning solo attack to claim the race leader’s pink jersey.
On the mountain where his dreams of victory were shattered by Chris Froome‘s famous solo breakaway in 2018 – after he had worn the pink jersey for 13 days – Yates turned the tables with a masterclass of his own as his rivals were left to question their own tactics.
The 32-year-old Lancastrian rode away from leader Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz on the brutal gradients and the gravel to turn an 81-second deficit and third place into a three minute, 56-second lead over Mexico’s Del Toro.
‘I still think it’s sinking in,’ Yates told TNT Sports after Sunday’s finale. ‘What a huge moment in my career, the defining moment. I’ve had some good success but I don’t think anything comes close.
British rider Simon Yates won the Giro d’Italia after emerging unscathed from the final stage
Yates took a lead of almost four minutes into stage 21 and finished safely in the peloton
Only a serious crash would have denied Yates (centre) his second Grand Tour victory
‘I’m just incredibly proud of the whole team and, of course, I’ve just finished it off, so an amazing three weeks.
‘It’s been a quick turnaround (from Saturday), we got the plane here to Rome and we kept the focus. It was a good chance for Olav today and he pulled it off. I’ll celebrate for sure and see what’s to come.’
With the final stage a largely ceremonial affair, which started with the leading riders meeting Pope Leo XIV, only a serious crash would have denied Yates a second Grand Tour victory following his success in the 2018 Vuelta a Espana.
It was the first time in the Giro’s 107-year history that it passed inside the Vatican walls and Pope Leo told the riders: ‘You are role models for young people all over the world. Congratulations to all of you. May you know that you are always welcome here in the Vatican.’
The 89-mile final stage concluded with a circuit of eight laps through downtown Rome and finished next to the Circus Maximus – the ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium.
Yates and his twin brother, Adam, have long been among the peloton’s elite.
Adam Yates rode this Giro for UAE Team Emirates as a support rider for Del Toro – so was competing against his sibling. But the brothers posed arm-in-arm for photos together during the final stage.
Yates becomes the third British rider to win the Giro after Froome in 2018 and Tao Geoghegan Hart in 2020, and only the second Brit, after Froome, to win two Grand Tour titles.
Next up is the Tour de France, where Yates is set to ride in support of team-mate and twice winner Jonas Vingegaard.
