An exhaustive list of all the British cyclists who have won multiple Grand Tours: Chris Froome (seven), and Simon Yates (two). It’s an exclusive club, one which Yates entered on Sunday after winning the Giro d’Italia, seven years on from winning the Vuelta a España. There were no British Giro winners in 100 editions to the start of 2018’s race; there åre now three. It’s some achievement, and Yates should be lauded for his tenacity and patience as much as his power - this year was his sixth tilt at the Italian Grand Tour. His redemptive ride on Saturday's stage was one of the best I’ve ever seen, creating one of the best stages I’ve ever watched live.
Despite all this, it is hard to escape the sense that the Visma-Lease a Bike rider is underrated. He does not have star quality in the same way that other British winners have had, and that isn’t just because pro cycling remains a niche sport. He is unlikely to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year; stop someone in the street, even someone into sports, and ignorance of the 32-year-old’s achievement would not be a surprise.
Cycling fans know how big this is, how fascinating the redemptive arc is, but Yates might still head to his next Grand Tour as a leader as a 7/10 favourite. He wasn’t considered on the same level as Primož Roglič or Juan Ayuso before the race, and won’t necessarily be the one to watch next time, despite being the Giro champion. He has as many Grand Tour wins as Jonas Vingegaard, more than Remco Evenepoel or Geraint Thomas, but this doesn’t necessarily cut through.
This could smart someone with a more sensitive sense of self, but fortunately, flying beneath the radar is just how Yates likes to ride; it is pretty much how he won this Giro after all, until he had to make a move on the final mountain stage. Two-and-a-half weeks of consistent riding led him to the point where he could make one crucial move and take the whole thing. That’s his idea of a perfect race, one that is very different to the 2018 Giro, which didn't end as well.
“The thing he did very well was that he was undercover for the whole race, that’s the way he loves to ride,” Matt White, his long-time sports director at Jayco-AlUla, the team he was at for 10 years, told Cycling Weekly on Monday. "He didn’t take the jersey, he didn’t win a stage. He got through all of the crashes and the dangerous stages in the first half of the race. He didn’t ride a super-aggressive race until Saturday, he was sitting in a nice position.”
“The worst thing that could have happened to Simon is if he'd taken the jersey after 10 days, he just doesn't like that attention,” White continued. “He just loves getting it done and that is his perfect race. His team were winning stages with him just staying there, and now he's just won the Giro without even winning a stage.”
Staying power, patience, and avoiding accidents is as crucial a part of winning a Grand Tour as attacking brio and showing yourself. As other rivals dropped away or out of the Giro, as Roglič and Ayuso did, Yates kept plugging away, not losing too much time, but also, perhaps crucially, not gaining enough time to be the marked man. All that said, it was his legs as much as the tactics, and his ride on the Colle delle Finestre was an outstanding performance, one which proved Yates should be rated. He is capable of victories like this, even if it has been occasional rather than consistent across his career.
Yates deserves to be in the pantheon of British cycling greats now, even if he won’t enjoy the attention. Next time he’s on the start list of a Grand Tour, perhaps it’s time to rank him among the favourites - although if he is to win, maybe we should keep his status a bit secret.
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