“Doing a Yates” – Was Simon Yates’ Giro d’Italia win better than Chris Froome’s?

Today will be remembered not just as the day Simon Yates won the Giro d’Italia, but as the day he rewrote his own legacy. On the brutal slopes of the Colle delle Finestre, seven years after suffering one of the most harrowing collapses in modern cycling history, Yates returned to the climb that once broke him, and this time, he broke it.

In 2018, Yates arrived at the Finestre in the maglia rosa, having led the race for over two weeks with boundless confidence. What followed was a collapse so total it became folklore: the dream dissolved on the gravel, and Chris Froome soared to one of the most iconic solo wins in Giro history, no cycling history!

For Yates, it was a scar that lingered, a moment replayed endlessly whenever the Giro returned to Italy’s unforgiving mountains. In 2025, that ghost was finally exorcised. And what a way to do it!

“This is a legend that has been seven years in the making. The ghosts of 2018 have been laid to rest,” said Orla Chennaoui on TNT Sports, capturing the emotional weight of a ride that was about so much more than minutes and seconds.

As the peloton snaked up the Finestre once more, the script flipped. Yates, now 32, wasn’t just part of the story, he was the story. From being the hunted to the hunter, from the heartbroken to the hero, the narrative completed its full arc in beautiful fashion.

Co-commentator Matt Stephens couldn’t hide the emotion: “I’m getting a bit choked up thinking about it because we love this sport and we know what it takes. That performance was fuelled by the memories of a capitulation that he’s constantly reminded of. The race fell perfectly for him but he had to ride the race of his life, on some of the most unrelenting yet beautiful terrain. That’s the ride of his career, that might define his entire career.”

Yates had spent the past few years in the shadows of stars like Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Remco Evenepoel. His Grand Tour pedigree was often discussed in past tense, “remember the 2018 Giro,” “he once won the Vuelta.” But on this final mountain test, when it mattered most, he found the legs, the belief, and the support to make the impossible happen.

“He’s just won the Giro d’Italia, he’s also won the Vuelta [a España]. How many riders have won two Grand Tours? A magnificent win for him, for the team and for cycling,” Stephens added.

Behind the result was a tactical masterclass. While rivals Richard Carapaz and Isaac Del Toro marked each other, Yates surged. With Wout van Aert having softened up the race from the breakaway and the Team Visma | Lease a Bike team executing flawlessly, the moment was there for the taking, and Yates seized it.

“Winner, winner, roast beef dinner,” said Robbie McEwen, summing it up with a grin. “Wow. We talked about it in hushed tones, ‘imagine if the script was flipped?’ From now on, we will talk about doing a Yates. It’s not luck, it’s good management, good teamwork, everything coming together on the day, and self-belief as well.”

Indeed, the term “doing a Yates” may soon enter cycling folklore. And what a turnaround that is!

“They will now call it doing a Yates,” Rob Hatch echoed during the live broadcast, and he is not wrong. “Redemption like we’ve never seen it. Not even the best Hollywood scriptwriters would have put this together. It is sensational. Remember where you were.”

And we will. Because stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia 2025, is one of the very best moments the sport we love has produced.