Everything about Simon Yates

Who is Simon Yates?

Simon Yates is a British professional cyclist who races for Team Visma | Lease a Bike and is one of the few riders in the history of cycling to have won stages in all Grand Tours. He was the winner of the 2018 Vuelta a España and has established himself as one of the most successful stage-racers in modern cycling.

Name: Simon Yates
Born: 7 August 1992
Place of birth: Bury, Great Britain
Turned pro: 2014
Height: 1.72m 

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Simon Yates during the 2024 Tour de France. @Sirotti

Simon Yates is a British professional cyclist who currently races for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, after having raced for a decade at Team Jayco AlUla. He is the twin brother of Adam Yates, a rider of the exact same physique and specialty in cycling, and like many other pro riders he lives in the high-altitude nation of Andorra.

He began cycling at a young age and was selected by British Cycling to compete on the track events, where in 2013 he became World Champion in the Points Race event in the elite ranks. On the road he competed for the 100% Me team and won a stage of the Tour of Britain, as welas two mountain stages at the Tour de l'Avenir, bringing in massive attention from World Tour teams. He and his twin brother Adam joined Orica GreenEDGE (since renamed Team Jayco AlUla) and quickly made a strong impression.

In 2014 he made his Tour de France debut, won the KOM classification at the Tour of Alberta and rode to a few strong performances in the mountains throughout the season. But in 2015 he was a full-fledged top rider, finishing 5th at Itzulia Basque Country, 6th at the Tour de Romandie and 5th at the Criterium du Dauphiné - where he was second to Chris Froome on the final day.

2016 was a controversial year for Yates, who tested positive for Terbutaline during Paris-Nice where he rode to a 7th spot. Reportedly, the team did not fill in the necessary documentation for his asthma medicine, and he was subsequently suspended for 4 months. A short suspension, but one that would follow him throughout his whole career. He returned to competition a few months later and took his first win with the team shortly after his comeback at the Prueba Villafranca. Yates was forced to skip the Tour de France but made his debut at the Vuelta a España where he rode to a sixth place - confirming his potential as a Grand Tour contender.

In 2017 he won a hilly at Paris-Nice, the GP Miguel Indurain and then again a mountain stage at the Tour de Romandie. He was second in Romandie and then at the Tour de France rode a consistent race to finish 7th in the overall classification. In 2018 Yates took a big leap in terms of performances, winning mountain stages at Paris-Nice and Volta a Catalunya where he finished second and fourth respectively. At the Giro d'Italia he started off as one of the contenders but soon proved to be the man to beat, as he showed himself as the strongest climber in the race.

He jumped to the pink jersey on the summit finish of stage 8 and then won three irtant stages whilst leading the race - in Gran Sasso d'Italia, Osimo and Sappada. He was set for overall win unless something dramatic happened but that's exactly the story of stage 19 where Team Sky attacked all-out the Colle delle Finèstre and Yates cracked completely, coming off the Top20 on the penultimate day in the mountains. But the Briton would get his revenge, as he showed the same form at the Vuelta a España later on and won the overall classification of the Spanish Grand Tour.

After winning a mountain stage at the Tour de Pologne, Yates was in prime form for the Vuelta and took the red jersey on stage 9. He lost it a few days later but regained it as he won stage 14 to Les Praeres. This time around he would not crack in the final week and won the race ahead of Enric Mas and

2019 saw the beginning of a new part of his career. He would never win a Grand Tour again but remained a consistent figure in the mountains. He opened the season with a win at the Vuelta a Andalucia, won a time-trial at Paris-Nice but at the Giro d'Italia he would have a rough first week which then saw him only ride to 8th in the GC. But at the Tour de France we saw a completely different Yates, who would not fight for the GC but chase stage wins, and he succeeded - winning stage 12 to Bagnères-de-Bigorne and stage 15 to Prat d'Albis, both from the breakaway.

In 2020 he took the overall victory at Tirreno-Adriatico, one of the most important in his career after winning the queen stage ahead of Geraint Thomas and Rafal Majka. He aimed for the Giro d'Italia GC but abandoned in the first week and saw his season end with only 38 race days - much due to the pandemic. In 2021 he built up towards the Giro once again, and entered in excellent form after winning the Tour of the Alps' overall classification - and a mountain stage in convincing form. After a very strong ride up Monte Zoncolan on stage 14 he looked to be Egan Bernal's main rival, but then lost significant time on stage 16 in the snow to Cortina D'Ampezzo. He won stage 19 to Alpe di Mera and in the end he still secured a third spot in the GC.

In 2022 he would again win a stage at Paris-Nice where he finished second in the overall classification, and then ahead of the Giro d'Italia he would win twice at the modest-level Vuelta Asturias. Yates looked very promising to fight for the win once again after securing the triumph on the time-trial of stage 2, but cracked on stage 9 to Blockhaus and fell out of GC contention. He still bounced back to win stage 14 where he raced alongside the GC men but would abandon soon after. He won the Prueba Villafranca later in the summer, the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, but then abandoned the Vuelta a España as well as he entered the second week in the Top5.

In 2023 Yates dropped his plans to keep focusing on the Giro and made a move back to the Tour de France. He would start the season at the Tour Down Under where he finished second and won the final stage, and was then 4th at Paris-Nice. At the Tour, he and his brother Adam (now racing for UAE Team Emirates) attacked and battled for victory on the first day of the race, but Simon was defeated and settled for second. However, as a result of a very consistent race throughout the entire three weeks, he would finish fourth in the final GC, a very convincing result in a peloton that grew faster by the year and only missing out on the podium by one position (occupied by Adam Yates, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard). He would still race to a Top5 at Il Lombardia before the end of the season.

In 2024 Yates would win the AlUla Tour in February, a big sponsor goal for the team, but was very absent from the action during the spring. He chased stage wins at the Tour de France, coming close on two occasions in the final week but not succeeding. He finished 12th. Citing a need for a change, Yates signed with Team Visma | Lease a Bike at the end of the season, ending a 10-year streak with the Australian teama.