VIDEO: Simon Yates' Giro d'Italia stint has a series from Team BikeExchange - Jayco

Simon Yates will be targeting the Giro d'Italia this year, in an attempt to conquer the title he was so close to obtaining in 2018. Team BikeExchange - Jayco are focused on the goal, and they have released the first episode of a series based around his journey.

Simon Yates' love story with the Giro d'Italia comes a long way back. He has in the past said he did not like the controlled nature of the Tour de France, alongside the media attention and responsibility that comes with the French Grand Tour. Adding that to the Giro's mountainous nature, it is no surprise that Yates will be riding it for the fifth time in a row with the goal of winning it.

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In 2018 he won three stages and was relatively dominant until the final week, where he spectacularly cracked in the final week on the Colle delle Finestre on stage 19. In 2019 he returned but finished a distant eighth place as he struggled to find form, whilst in 2020 he abandoned in the opening week after testing positive for Covid-19.

Last season Yates was back to his best, but ran across a top-form Egan Bernal who took the title home. Yates finished third, taking home a stage win at Alpe di Mera after also winning the Tour of the Alps in preparation.

This year he's started off the season strong at the Vuelta a Andalucia, and has finished second this past week at Paris-Nice where he showed his best legs, winning the final stage and putting Primoz Roglic under serious pressure. He is scheduled to be riding the Volta a Catalunya next week where he will be one of the main contenders for the general classification.