"Then I’ve been on the podium of every Grand Tour, not many guys can say that" - Simon Yates eyeing Tour de France success this summer

Simon Yates has amassed a very impressive palmares over the years. After adding overall victory at the AlUla Tour earlier this month, the former Vuelta a Espana winner is already casting one eye on the coming Tour de France.

“I want to go back to the Tour. After last July I already had that in mind to go back,” says the 31-year-old Brit in conversation with Rouleur, referring to his narrow missing out of the podium to his own brother, UAE Team Emirates' Adam Yates at the 2023 Tour de France. “Of course, every year is different, and the competitors are different and it’s always difficult, but I would really like to try and go after that because then I’ve also been on the podium of every Grand Tour, and not many guys can say that."

As mentioned, Yates took overall victory at the Vuelta a Espana back in 2018 and with a 3rd placed finish at the 2021 Giro d'Italia, just the Tour de France podium is missing. “It's a big goal, but why not go after it?" Yates says confidently. “I mean, last year were my best numbers I ever did. I don’t know if I can keep improving. I hope so. And I’m still motivated. I’m getting older now. Just at the Tour Down Under for some reason I checked the start list and I was second oldest in the team, and it didn’t really register yet that I was one of the veterans. But I still feel young, motivated to do better and to improve myself, and go after the highest of heights. We’ll see if I can do that.”

Already with two stage races in his legs for 2024, finishing 7th at the Tour Down Under and winning the AlUla Tour, Yates assures he's only just getting started. “I’m not 100 per cent, it’s too early for that, and if you ever have such a high peak now you would need a break earlier than the Ardennes,” Yates explains. “But it is difficult. You see that, on Willunga, the stage there, my numbers were through the roof, and I turned around and there is 10 blokes still there. Normally if I do those numbers there would be one guy."

A stalwart of the Team Jayco AlUla set-up, Yates has ridden his whole World Tour career with the Australian-based team. "I’m very happy where I am. I get a lot of freedom from other things in my life; training camps and stuff like that. I get to organise my own so I can go away with family and take my dog and live a relatively normal life," he says.

"And when I go away, I’m very professional. I’ve never come down from a training camp at altitude going badly. I enjoy getting away and really concentrating on that. In that regard, why would I change when I have those sort of freedoms?" Yates concludes. "I still feel completely part of the team and we have a great understanding about one another so I’m not searching to change.”