INTERVIEW Simon Yates | "I don't think I'm going to lose time on purpose, but like you said I'm not the priority"

Simon Yates has achieved the climax of his career by winning the Giro d'Italia last May, and this afternoon he was at Team Visma | Lease a Bike's team presentation at the Tour de France. The Briton comes in with a very distinct goal however, as he tells CyclingUpToDate.

The Briton took a surprise and impressive victory at the Giro, closing a chapter of many years in what is the race that means the most to him. With the pressure off his shoulders, Yates shares how there was a very professional approach to his post-Giro. "Yeah I mean, there wasn't much time to relax because I went on a training camp with the team. Just a few days to celebrate let's say, and already back to work," he said in words to us in Lille. 

Yates spent several weeks at altitude training with his teammates, and the feedback from the training camp is quite good for the whole of Team Visma | Lease a Bike: "Everyone was looking good, everyone's focused and motivated, and let's see what happens in the race".

His role will be that of supporting Jonas Vingegaard in this Tour, whilst Matteo Jorgenson - like in 2024 - is also expected to be towards the front throughout the whole race, being a second GC card. The team also has Sepp Kuss however, winner of the 2023 Vuelta, and Yates himself who can be used as cards depending on the circumstances - mostly to try and put pressure on UAE.

Yates does not have the weight of having to perform in the overall classification here, but he does not exclude it either. "You never know what happens. I don't think I'm going to lose time on purpose, but like you said I'm not the priority here. If I lose some time or whatever then it's fine".

However Yates and Visma took a huge win at the Giro, and have put the ball on UAE's court. "There's always pressure at the Tour de France but I think we're in a very nice situation. The team has come off a big high at the Giro and yeah hopefully we can continue with that atmosphere".

However despite being one of the most prominent climbers of 2025, there isn't a specific stage that he is looking towards in this race. "Looking forward to is a strong word. It's going to be a hard race, there's not really one that stands out to be honest," he concluded.