Simon Yates is starting his sixth season with Aussie team Mitchelton-Scott and says it remains the perfect fit for him
On the eve of the Santos Tour Down Under, Vuelta a Espana winner Simon Yates opens up on his goals for 2020 and why he has stayed the course with Australian team Mitchelton-Scott for six years.
Tour Down Under
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tour Down Under. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Hopes for Kangaroo Island to host leg of TDU
- Hungry Ewan wakes from hibernation in style
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
In a sport where instability is the norm and changing teams is often as regular as the calendar ticking over, that Briton Simon Yates turned professional with Mitchelton-Scott in 2014 and is still there in 2019 is an achievement in itself.
For rider and team, but not that he sees it that way.
“It’s not unusual if you have a good relationship and everything is working well,” Yates told The Advertiser on the eve of the Santos Tour Down Under in Adelaide.
“What’s the saying? Don’t fix something that isn’t broken.
“When I joined the team we had the idea to become a GC team and now we’ve won a Grand Tour and podiumed in others, but there are still things to improve.
“The team is growing, we’re getting better every year so why would I change?”
Yates is getting better alright – seventh in the Tour de France in 2018, delivered the team its first Grand Tour victory in the Vuelta a Espana in 2018, and last year was eighth at the Giro d’Italia and won two stages of the Tour.
Stream over 50 sports live and on demand with KAYO SPORTS. Just $25/month, no lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly.
That’s not to say the relationship hasn’t been tested along the way.
But not even a shocking paperwork blunder by one of the team’s doctors for Yates’ asthma medication, which led to a non-intentional four-month ban in 2016, could come between them.
“That was a mistake, people make mistakes and that’s how it is,” he said.
“We have a fantastic relationship for sure.
“I wouldn’t say once we go away from the races I’m the best of mates with all the guys, but we have a very good working relationship and I speak to them whenever I can.
“But I am also a very independent person, I like to be away and do my own things, and at the end of the day this is a job too.
“When you go home you don’t want to speak to your workmates, right?
“So you also need that time alone.
“We have a good relationship and for the moment it’s working.”
MORE TDU NEWS
The Coffee Ride returns for 2020
Ruth Winder crowned queen of the road
Women’s race: Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4
In pictures: The Tour Down Under family ride
Roberts stewed over Turtur’s TDU role
Yates snuck into Adelaide just after Christmas and has based himself at Glenelg.
For two weeks he trained mostly on his own and barely turned a head despite being one of the TDU’s biggest names this year.
He came out early to acclimatise to the heat, which ironically has yet to arrive and doesn’t look like it either this week.
“I’ve heard all the horror stories about it being 45 (degrees) and the last time I raced here (in Victoria) it was a horrible experience of 40 degrees and I didn’t want the same thing to happen again,” Yates said.
Still, he has banked two weeks of good training both on the velodrome and on the roads where he praised the city’s drivers and its wide bike lanes.
His TDU debut is due to a number of factors including his decision to target the Giro d’Italia in May.
“One was because I stopped racing so early last year, I was tired after doing the Giro and the Tour and if I continued and prolonged the season at that point, what am I gaining? I would have been run into the ground,” Yates said.
“And I’ve always wanted to come out and do the Aussie summer as well, so it’s a combination of things and here we are.”
He says he’s more than happy to support teammate Daryl Impey going for the three-peat or take his opportunity if it presents on the climbs.
“We’ve got a lot of options, it’s one of the strongest teams we’ve had here and we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
“Of course I know the climbs now that I’ve been here so early, but I don’t know the style of racing and Daryl knows what to do and I’ll support him as best I can.”
Yates’ grand plan is to attempt the Giro d’Italia and Tokyo Olympic road race double this year while his twin brother Adam leads Mitchelton-Scott in the Tour de France.
“I present my ideas to Whitey (director Matt White) and the rest of the team and it evolves from there as a discussion,” he said.
“I wanted to go back to the Giro and they were happy to support me in my goal, and if they weren’t happy with that then maybe we would have had more discussions.
“When I was younger I dreamt of the Olympics – on the track – I didn’t dream about the Tour de France or these other road races, I really wanted to win Olympic gold.
“The Olympics is still what I really want, so hopefully I make the team first and we only have four places, so there’s some stiff competition.
“But it’s a hard course and probably one of the only courses that really suits me.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Originally published as Simon Yates is starting his sixth season with Aussie team Mitchelton-Scott and says it remains the perfect fit for him