Simon Yates loves the Giro d’Italia but he could have been forgiven for hating it.
Even in a sport synonymous with suffering, this Grand Tour has inflicted unusual punishment on Yates over the years.
The British rider looked set to win at his first attempt in 2018, only to dramatically crack two days from Rome.
Illness, injury and indifferent form plagued his attempts over the next four years.
He returned for this edition, after two years away, a contender, but not widely considered one of the pre-race favourites.
Perhaps the absence made his heart grow fonder. The Englishman’s determination to conquer this beautiful yet brutal race steelier.
After quietly keeping himself in contention, Yates’ audacious attack on stage 20 saw him seize the maglia rosa – the leader’s jersey – for the first time since that 2018 collapse.
On Sunday in Rome, he rolled across the line in pink, sealing his second Grand Tour title since the 2018 Vuelta a Espana.
Yates’ tumultuous love affair with the Giro has its happy ending.
The tears tumbled from Yates as soon as he crossed the line in Sestriere on Saturday and continued to fall throughout his post-stage interviews.
“I’ve really invested a lot of my career and my life into targeting this race, and there’ve been a lot of setbacks,” said the usually stoic 32-year-old when he could finally speak.
Setbacks is an understatement.
An underwhelming eighth in 2019. Forced to withdraw after contracting Covid-19 in 2020.
A difficult fortnight in 2021 before a strong final week to finish third. Sustaining a knee injury in a crash early on in 2022 that ultimately forced him to abandon.
That first year still cut the deepest though.
In 2018, he held the leader’s jersey for 13 days, won three stages, but on stage 19 fell from first to 18th overall as compatriot Chris Froome pulled off a staggering comeback on his way to his first and only Giro title. Yates ended up finishing 21st.
How fitting it was on the same climb Yates crumbled on seven years ago – the Colle delle Finestre – that he saw his window and rode away from rivals Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz to glory.
Afterwards, Yates revealed he had privately been targeting the climb since the route was announced, wanting to “close that chapter” from 2018, despite not having ridden it since.
Even then, Yates thought it would be for a stage win, rather than for the pink jersey.
He did not draw attention to his aim and Yates’ return to the Finestre was not the dominant narrative before stage 20. The focus was on a showdown between leader Del Toro and second-placed Carapaz.
And it helped free Yates to ride away.
Having resisted the allure of Team Sky when he turned professional in 2014, Bury-born Yates and twin brother Adam joined Australian outfit OricaGreenEdge.
Adam left at the end of 2020, but Simon remained with the team, now called JaycoAlUla, until the end of last season, taking a pay cut to join Visma-Lease a Bike.
Visma’s experience of winning Grand Tours has proved vital for Yates. The Dutch team have won four Vueltas, two Tours de France and now two Giros since 2019.
Putting generational talent Wout van Aert up the road to help Yates bury his rivals on the final climb on Saturday was masterful.
It had not all been heartbreak for Yates at the Giro. He won six individual stages from 2018 to 2022, often in swashbuckling style.
This year was different. He quietly went about his business before striking at the ideal moment.
Yates did not place higher than third on any stage and did not enter the top 10 overall until stage seven.
He is the first Giro winner since Alberto Contador in 2015 not to also win a stage.
Yates moved up to second on stage 14 and, though he slipped back to third on stage 17, his measured approach appeared to be paying off, with 2019 chamion Carapaz left to do most of the attacking.
Then came stage 19. Yates lost more time and was visibly annoyed at the finish, saying his team had not raced to the agreed plan.
He went into the penultimate stage one minute 21 seconds down on Del Toro.
That sense of ‘not again’ that engulfed Rory McIlroy’s final round at this year’s Masters was palpable. It seemed Yates’ chance had gone.
Even Adam was against him, riding in support of UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Del Toro.
But Yates showed maturity by apologising to his team before the start on Saturday, admitting he was just disappointed at his own performance, before channelling that frustration as Visma’s plan worked perfectly.
Dropping to third probably helped him in the end, with Del Toro and Carapaz marking each other somewhat bafflingly as Yates went clear.
Regardless of their tactics, Yates was the strongest when it mattered most.
Like McIlroy, Yates sobbed before the smile arrived when he knew he had finally won the title he wanted most.
He had a broad grin in Rome, but was also perceptive about what he has achieved.
“A lot of people can resonate with the story, losing the race a long time ago now, in 2018,” he said before the final stage. “The way I’ve managed to take it, I really think it’s touched a lot of people.”
He is set to ride this year’s Tour in support of team-mate Jonas Vingegaard, who is bidding for a third title, with Yates possibly able to target stage wins too.
Perhaps this victory will free him up to win more Grand Tours. Perhaps it won’t.
There will be a lot of talk of redemption but Yates had not shamed himself in failing to win the Giro before. Misfortune and stronger competitors had defeated him.
How poetic this year gave him the chance to complete the circle of his Giro story.
As Yates said: “Life comes around, it gives and it takes.”
This is not redemption but release.
Relief.
Rejoice.
