{"id":147524,"date":"2025-05-31T19:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T19:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/147524\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T19:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T19:03:14","slug":"great-britains-simon-yates-stuns-field-slays-ghosts-to-seize-giro-ditalia-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/147524\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Britain\u2019s Simon Yates stuns field, slays ghosts to seize Giro d\u2019Italia lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Great Britain\u2019s Simon Yates produced the greatest climbing performance of his career on the Colle delle Finestre to seize the Maglia Rosa and all but win the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n

The Visma\u2013Lease a Bike rider now holds a lead of three minutes and 56 seconds over second-place Isaac del Toro, who had led the race for almost two weeks, with Sunday\u2019s final stage purely a ceremonial procession into Rome.<\/p>\n

Yates\u2019 performance was even more remarkable because of his personal history on the Finestre \u2014 a terrifyingly steep 18km climb \u2014 where, set to win the Giro in 2018, he cracked badly and lost over 38 minutes. Though he won the Vuelta a Espana later that year, memories of the capitulation have always followed him.<\/p>\n

But on stage 20, having entered the day as a virtual afterthought in the general classification (GC), the 32-year-old achieved redemption.<\/p>\n

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\ud83e\ude77 Simon. Philip. Yates. <\/p>\n

Redemption Arc \u2013 Complete. <\/p>\n

Here’s to the Maglia Rosa of the #GirodItalia<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/VIJBNECSg0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 31, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Saturday\u2019s route formed the queen stage of the Giro \u2014 featuring 2,500m of climbing, including the 2,178m Finestre (the high point of the race), before finishing with a rapid descent and short climb up to Sestiere.<\/p>\n

With Yates trailing Del Toro by 1 minute, 21 seconds and Richard Carapaz by 38 seconds, the final mountain stage was expected to be a battle between the two Latin Americans \u2014 the dynamic young Mexican against the wily Ecuadorian.<\/p>\n

Carapaz\u2019s American EF Education\u2013EasyPost team paced hard up to the base of the Finestre, where the Ecuadorian immediately launched an attack. Initially, only Del Toro was able to follow \u2014 before Yates danced away from the peloton to join them. Later, they were briefly joined by Canada\u2019s Derek Gee, sitting in fourth place.<\/p>\n

Yates and Carapaz both tried to distance Del Toro, but the race leader remained glued to their back wheels \u2014 before Carapaz appeared to let a Yates attack go, insisting that the Maglia Rosa chase the move himself.<\/p>\n

The British rider\u2019s lead only grew as he hit the gravel section of the Finestre, its most brutal slopes, with Yates possessing a 1 minute, 40 second advantage over the snow-capped summit. In the process, he became the first rider to climb the Finestre in under an hour \u2014 breaking the previous record by over a minute \u2014 but greater prizes awaited.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yates became the first rider to climb the Finestre in under an hour (Luca Bettini\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

His lead at the top put Yates in virtual pink by almost 20 seconds with 25km remaining \u2014 and with Belgian superstar Wout Van Aert waiting to pace him, having joined the breakaway earlier in the day, he had the perfect domestique for the valley.<\/p>\n

With Van Aert\u2019s help, Yates\u2019 advantage on the road over his GC rivals grew to almost five minutes \u2014 with Carapaz and Del Toro refusing to work together behind. Del Toro appeared to have been told by his UAE Team Emirates directors to ride conservatively throughout the day, a mistake which will be microanalysed over the coming months.<\/p>\n

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\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 YATES AIRLINES HAS TAKEN OFF! <\/p>\n

Both Carapaz and Del Toro can’t follow the Brit \ud83e\udd75#Giroditalia<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/t2uSWa8Gyq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 31, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Van Aert peeled off with six kilometres remaining, but Yates\u2019 lead on the gentler climb up to Sestriere only increased.<\/p>\n

As Australia\u2019s Chris Harper won the stage from the breakaway \u2014 the biggest win of the 30-year-old\u2019s own career \u2014 Yates followed less than two minutes later, contorting his body over his bike to extend what was already an insurmountable lead.<\/p>\n

As he crossed the line, the Bury-born rider hung his head and covered his face with his hands, as if unable to take in the magnitude of it all.<\/p>\n

Del Toro and Carapaz eventually crossed the line 5 minutes and 12 seconds behind. This will be Yates\u2019 second Grand Tour win, the first for a British rider since Tao Geoghegan Hart\u2019s Giro in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first talk we had at training camp was only about this stage,\u201d Marc Reef, Yates\u2019 team boss at Visma, told Eurosport. \u201cHe really wanted to do well here. You can never forget those memories (of cracking in 2018), but now on the Finestre he turned this Giro upside down.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil this moment, he was really calm, but the moment he sat down and started to get changed, he got emotional. It was special to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the stage, Yates was congratulated by his twin brother Adam, who had been a key domestique for Del Toro and UAE Team Emirates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had it in the back of my mind that I could come here and close the chapter,\u201d Yates told TNT Sports. \u201cMaybe not to take the jersey and the race, but maybe the stage, and try to show myself the way I know I can do. But to pull it off\u2026 I have to thank the guys from the team because they believed in me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still sinking in. I\u2019m not really an emotional person but I couldn\u2019t hold back the tears. It\u2019s been something I\u2019ve worked for throughout my career year after year, there have been a lot of set-backs. I\u2019ve finally managed to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giro d\u2019Italia Standings:<\/p>\n