"Simon Yates hasn’t yet shown what he’s been capable of in the past" - Visma DS issues rallying cry to Giro d'Italia GC hopeful

For Team Visma | Lease a Bike, the 2025 Giro d'Italia offers opportunity for success on various fronts. With Olav Kooij and Wout van Aert expected to be in the mix in the sprints, it is the former Vuelta winner Simon Yates that holds the hopes of general classification glory.

With the stage 2 time trial and the a climby stage 3 coming this weekend, Yates has an early chance to prove his credentials. “Simon can be very strong. But he hasn’t shown that yet this year. So now it’s up to him to prove it here,” sports director Marc Reef says in conversation with IDL Pro Cycling, issuing something of a rallying cry to Yates after his sluggish start to life at Team Visma | Lease a Bike. 

“From the beginning of the year, our goal was to have Simon perform well here,” Reef continues. "But it’s true that we had hoped he would already be stronger in Tirreno-Adriatico or the Volta a Catalunya. That wasn’t the case. Simon hasn’t yet shown what he’s been capable of in the past. Sometimes it’s a matter of trial and error, figuring out what works and what doesn’t. We also shouldn’t forget that he worked in a certain way for ten years, so he’s had to adjust a few things.”

There's no panic just yet though. After all, a three-week Grand Tour could be the perfect chance for Yates to ride himself into some form. “That takes some time. How do we operate, what can he expect, how are certain things handled, what can he bring up for discussion? His previous team worked one way, and our approach is a bit different,” Reef explains. “He also had a collision during altitude training in February, and he got sick just before Tirreno, but we shouldn’t overstate that. Maybe it had a small impact, but not a major one.”

“We do have the confidence that he can be competitive here. What that exactly means is still unclear. We had a very solid altitude training camp over the past few weeks and we’re definitely starting this Giro with confidence in Simon,” Reef concludes. "Simon also has the calm and experience to know that a Grand Tour takes three weeks. If something doesn’t go to plan, he accepts it and keeps going. We’ve prepared broadly and didn’t specifically focus on hour-long efforts. A Grand Tour is more than just that, so you train for everything that might come your way over the three weeks. That said, altitude training naturally helps with climbing.”