There were several defining moments in last year’s Giro d’Italia; from the sprint battles between Viviani and Bennett to the heroic cameos of Dennis, Pinot, Lopez, and Carapaz. The scenes witnessed on stage 19 overshadowed the lot, even the dramatic rise and fall of Simon Yates’ maglia rosa challenge, but, a year on, the Mitchelton-Scott leader is back and ready to finish what he started.
Winding back to last week, it's 11 days out from the 2019 Giro d’Italia and an hour before one of Yates' last training rides at home in Andorra, but his next port of call is a round of interviews from the European and Australian press. One wonders, as he picks up the phone, whether the shy and slightly reserved British climber will find this series of inquisitions as painful as today’s ride, but we find him in fine fettle as he opens up about his recent workload.
"It’s a few days away and I’m feeling good," he says at the start of his first interview of the day.
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"Training has gone well and I’m looking forward to getting started. It’s been a more or less ideal preparation, to be honest, and I’ve not had any major hiccups. This last five or six weeks of training has gone really well. The signs are looking good."
Twelve months ago Yates arrived in Jerusalem as an outsider for the podium. The much-anticipated pay-per-view battle was meant to be between Chris Froome and the defending champion Tom Dumoulin but, from the moment Yates picked up seventh in the opening time trial, the cycling fraternity began to take notice.
By Mount Etna on stage 6, he had gifted a stage to a teammate and moved seamlessly into the pink jersey. More was to come, with wins at Gran Sasso, Osimo and Sappada, and while his rivals veered between the defensive and the inconsistent, Yates’ attacking verve looked impregnable as the race entered the final week.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/unfinished-symphony-simon-yates-and-the-giro-ditalia
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