A DAM 28 YATES

Not chasing a podium place in Paris could make Adam Yates a potent stage taker at the Tour MITCHELTON–SCOTT

Since he captured the Tour’s white jersey for best young rider in 2016, there seems to have been two Adam Yateses. The Adam Yates who shows up to one-week stage races has been on a steady upward trajectory. In 2017 he was fourth and fifth at the Volta a Catalunya and Tour of Poland respectively. In 2018 he was fourth at the Tour of California and second at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Last year he was pipped by only one second to the Tirreno-adriatico title by Primož Roglič and also narrowly missed out on winning Catalunya. He then won the UAE Tour in convincing fashion in February before coronavirus hit.

While the UCI points system is a somewhat blunt metric it’s worth noting that in 2019 he scored nearly double the points he did in 2016 when he had his biggest result standing on that Paris podium at the end of July.

GT rethink

But the other Adam Yates, the Grand Tour GC man, has been on the slide. He backed up his white jersey win with a top 10 at the Giro in 2017 – never finishing a road stage outside the top 30 and often inside the top 10. But in the Tour in both 2018 and 2019 he slipped out of contention in the early mountains and twice finished 29th on GC.

Heat and crashes all played their part but regardless, this year has been marked as a year for a reset. A year, perhaps, to restore confidence in himself and so he’ll be chasing stage wins while Mitchelton sends its GC A-team to the Giro with his brother Simon. Relieved of pressure, he may well shine. Now his move to Ineos for 2021 has been announced he may lack full support, but the transfer does suggest he’s not given up on Grand Tour GC challenges just yet.