‘Two years ago I came fourth and every year you try to improve’
Adam Yates is in good form and looks forward to mounting a genuine challenge at the Tour
Ask Adam Yates what it was like watching his twin brother Simon suffer on stage 19 of the recent Giro d’italia, when he tumbled disastrously out of contention within sight of the finish line having worn the pink jersey so well for two weeks, and he will give you a straight response. Just do not expect much in the way of emotion.
“That’s bike racing isn’t it?” he says bluntly in his thick Bury accent. “Some days you are the best in the world. Some days you find it hard and you lose 45 minutes.” You can almost imagine him shrugging as he says it.
Not that Yates did not care about his brother’s performance. On the contrary. He was racing in California when the Giro was in full swing and got up at the crack of dawn every day to watch his older sibling (by five minutes) in action. He did not miss a stage. It is just that he, like Simon, is splendidly phlegmatic.
“Look,” he says. “It was outrageous what Simon did. I mean, two or three years ago, 2015 I think, he was in the Vuelta a Espana and scrabbling for a top 10. Now he’s dominating mountain stages at the Giro. Attacking left, right and centre. It just wasn’t to be. That’s what it is…” He pauses. “We’ll win one of these one day.”
By “one of these” Yates, of course, is referring to grands tours, the three three-week stage races which punctuate the season. The biggest of the lot, the Tour de France, begins in the Vendee on Saturday, and Adam has been selected to lead Mitchelton-scott. Not just that. He is doing it as sole leader this time.
Two years ago, despite a team which was essentially built around sprinter Michael Matthews, he managed to stick like glue to the leading contenders, hanging tough day after day and finishing fourth overall, winning the white jersey for best young rider. This time the Australian team are putting all their eggs in his basket, Caleb Ewan, the Australian sprinter, having been controversially cut from the squad late in the day.
“I mean, it’s not a good feeling is it?” he admits of Ewan’s exclusion. “We rode California together and we were working well.
“Everything was going good. Obviously management wanted to change a few things and that is out of our control. But yeah, for me it probably doesn’t change too much. I already had a lot of big guys looking after me. And we’d have brought big guys to be his leadout.” Yates may claim that it does not change much. But having seven other riders working for him, rather than splitting their resources, has to make a difference. It must also be a huge confidence boost?
“Definitely,” he says. “And this team is really growing as a GC [general classification] team, too. Not just me, not just Simon, but everyone. We’re pretty much up there in all the big races now, riding GC. We’re used to it. Everyone knows what to do, everyone knows their job. And with that you get experience, you get confidence. Especially when it goes right.”
It went right an awful lot at the Giro, where Simon was brilliantly supported by the likes of Jack Haig, Sam Bewley, Svein Tuft and Chris Juul-jensen. Adam, for his part, will be able to count on the engines of Australian trio Luke Durbridge, Mathew Hayman and Michael Hepburn, with New Zealand’s Jack Bauer also selected to help in the early stages, when crosswinds and cobbles will be a factor. Then, once the road starts going uphill, he can look to Daryl Impey, Damien Howson and Mikel Nieve, who came on strong in the final part of the Giro and knows all about winning the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) from his time at Team Sky.
So can he do it? He is in form, having finished runner-up at the recent Criterium du Dauphine. His biggest challenge, as it was for his brother, will come in the individual time trial on the penultimate day; a 31km (19 miles) test to decide the general classification before the final day in Paris.
‘We’re up there in all the big races now. We’re used to it. Everyone knows what to do’
As one of the smaller riders, the 5ft 8in Yates is never going to produce the watts of a Chris Froome or a Tom Dumoulin. But having watched his brother nibble away at the Giro, taking time out of his rivals here and there and banking it ahead of the time trial, he has a template to work with.
“The Tour is a bit different from the Giro,” he cautions. “Pretty much every day at the Giro, the break never went away so the GC guys were constantly fighting for [bonus] seconds and intermediate sprints. At the Tour, certainly when I’ve ridden it, the break gets a little more leeway. And it is controlled. But we’ll see. Simon showed that you can be aggressive and take time when you need to.”
Yates will try to do likewise. Like his twin, he is a racer and he can climb with the best of them. He earned the nickname “The Shadow” two years ago because he stayed so close to the leaders. Others called him “The Gatekeeper” for his habit of riding at the back of the group on climbs, moving aside as the riders ahead of him were dropped and “nipping forward” to take their place.
So can he do it? He is certainly in good form, having finished runner-up at the recent Criterium du Dauphine. “Umm, you have to set your expectations high haven’t you? I mean… two years ago I came fourth and every year you try to improve. I guess… I don’t want to say ‘I’m going for the win’. I just want to do my best and see what happens.” What will be will be. Just do not expect him to get too worked up about it.