Simon Yates: "It’s the best TT I’ve done for a while"

Team BikeExchange - Jayco's Simon Yates is no stranger to producing high level time-trials, he in fact won it here in Paris-Nice back in 2019. However he's quite inconsistent, but today he showed what he is capable of by putting himself in the fight for the win.

“I’m pretty happy with that obviously, it’s the best TT I’ve done for a while. The first climb, the first little drag there was where the difference was made really, I mean on the downhills you don’t make that much time up, well these big guys maybe make up a bit more than me because of the weight advantage, then from that point on it was just full gas to the line," Yates said after the finish.

The Briton finished the 13.4-kilometer long route in fifth place only 11 seconds back on Wout van Aert, and has gotten himself up to fourth place on the overall classification. He sits 39 seconds behind Primoz Roglic and may be his biggest rival in the coming days: "Sometimes I do some good numbers and finish last, sometimes I do some bad numbers and finish quite up as well. A lot of it is just pacing and holding a really good aero position and that’s what these specialists are good at. Once you get two weeks, three weeks into a grand tour it’s also different, you’re not fresh anymore, you can’t do the same power, or least I can’t because I’m tired, maybe these big guys can.

He put a lot of this result down to the change in equipment the team has had over the winter: "It’s really fantastic, and unbelievable difference, I’m really happy with it. One of the reasons I wanted to come here instead of Tirreno, is because its a bit more of a lumpy TT, in Tirreno the road is quite flat, out and back, British ‘10’ style, so it’s hard for me to really test myself there, you just do 400 watts and that’s it. But here you really have to pace it, judge the corners a bit as well."

"For me personally, it’s good that I’m feeling good, I feel like I’ve got good form, but that doesn’t always translate to a grand tour later in the year, so we’ll see," he concluded. Yates has an opportunity to attack tomorrow's stage five of the race as the peloton heads towards the Col de la Mure where the race can explode. It will be a tricky day with bad weather where a lot can happen, and Yates may go on the offensive if he has the same sensations as today.