Adam Yates: Let me go back and try one more time
At 32, the British climber has found his best form, and he's targeting the Giro d'Italia in 2025
Good morning subscribers,
In total, I’ve spoken to 20 riders since arriving in Spain on Monday, and there are several more camps and interviews lined up before heading home at the weekend.
To start today, we’ve got this Adam Yates story before another day on the road, visiting teams and riders.
Founding members of the Substack will be able to listen to the Yates interview on the WhatsApp community group a little later today, so if you’d like to sign up for that benefit, please click on the link below and become a Founding Member.
In the works for later, we have a Marco Haller interview and a catch-up with Elisa Longo Borghini after we interviewed her last night.
I’ll try and alternate content over the coming days and weeks so we don’t have a run of stories from one team, but for now, here’s Yates.
Have a great day.
Dan
When Adam Yates decided to transfer from Ineos Grenadiers to UAE Team Emirates at the end of 2022, the consensus was that he’d put his own Grand Tour ambitions to bed.
Joining Tadej Pogačar’s squad presumably meant Yates's personal aims would be quashed by whatever calendar and goals his Slovenian team leader had in mind, but after two years of consistent improvement, Yates believes that it’s time to have one final crack at targeting a three-week race.
Next year, assuming Pogačar skips the race, Yates will line up as a co-leader alongside Juan Ayuso at the Giro d’Italia, and have one more tilt at GC. At 32 and heading into a contract year, it feels like the ideal time for the British climber to test his mettle against a field that will likely contain Primož Roglič and Enric Mas.
“I’d like to do the Giro for myself, personally. I asked Matxin [Fernandez] if I could do the Giro one more time, and I’ve actually only done it once in my career. I’ve been at a high level for the last two years, and I said to him that I don’t know how many more years I can carry on at this level, so let me go back and try one more time and see what I can do,” Yates told us at the UAE Team Emirates training camp in Benidorm.