After three stage victories and thirteen days in the Maglia Rosa this year, Simon Yates will return to the Giro d’Italia in 2019 looking for more success.
The performance showed his general classification potential and the race also saw some of the most exciting racing of the 2018 season, but a stage 19 downfall left Yates and Mitchelton-SCOTT with unfinished business at the Italian Grand Tour.
The 26-year-old will return twelve months on as a Grand Tour winner, with the confidence he has what it takes following his success at the Vuelta a Espana.
Simon Yates: “I’m looking forward to returning to the Giro d’Italia next year. It’s a race I have great memories from but one which also left a bitter taste in my mouth so I want to go back to try to finish the job off.
“I’m already working hard to arrive in great shape and I can’t wait for the season to begin.
“The Giro is always an extremely difficult race and next year, with three time trials, it’s maybe not perfectly suited to me but we will still give it a real go and see what we can achieve.”
Matt White – Head Sports Director: “I had a gut feeling that Simon would want to go back to the Giro d’Italia.
“It was Simon’s first Giro d’Italia this year and it’ll be a Giro he will never forget. He liked the style of racing there, he liked his experience at the Giro, he had the most success he has ever had at any race and then the biggest disappointment that he has ever had.
“Experience does matter. He will return with the self-assurance that he’s been there, he knows what to expect with the different style of racing and he and the team know they can win a Grand Tour.
“It’s a decent course for Simon. There’s three time trials but all of them have a degree of climbing in them so they are not your pure specialist courses. We’ve come a long way with his time trialling and we still see there’s more room for improvement but if anything, it’s turning into a bit of a strength for Simon.
“There’s very little climbing in the first ten days but it’s still the hardest Giro I have seen in the last decade. There’s around three of four stages of more than 5000m of climbing. It’s a massive load, there’s some big long days.
“Regardless of who is on the start line, Simon will go in as one of the favourites and we’re comfortable with that. We’ll go back with a strong climbing team, including with Spanish climber Mikel Nieve, similar to our approach in 2018.”
