Having resisted the allure of Team Sky when he turned professional in 2014, Bury-born Yates and twin brother Adam joined Australian outfit Orica–GreenEdge.
Adam left at the end of 2020, but Simon remained with the team, now called Jayco–AlUla, until the end of last season, taking a pay cut to join Visma-Lease a Bike.
Visma’s experience of winning Grand Tours has proved vital for Yates. The Dutch team have won four Vueltas, two Tours de France and now two Giros since 2019.
Putting generational talent Wout van Aert up the road to help Yates bury his rivals on the final climb on Saturday was masterful.
It had not all been heartbreak for Yates at the Giro. He won six individual stages from 2018 to 2022, often in swashbuckling style.
This year was different. He quietly went about his business before striking at the ideal moment.
Yates did not place higher than third on any stage and did not enter the top 10 overall until stage seven.
He is the first Giro winner since Alberto Contador in 2015 not to also win a stage.
Yates moved up to second on stage 14 and, though he slipped back to third on stage 17, his measured approach appeared to be paying off, with 2019 chamion Carapaz left to do most of the attacking.
Then came stage 19. Yates lost more time and was visibly annoyed at the finish, saying his team had not raced to the agreed plan.
He went into the penultimate stage one minute 21 seconds down on Del Toro.
That sense of ‘not again’ that engulfed Rory McIlroy’s final round at this year’s Masters was palpable. It seemed Yates’ chance had gone.
Even Adam was against him, riding in support of UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Del Toro.
But Yates showed maturity by apologising to his team before the start on Saturday, admitting he was just disappointed at his own performance, before channelling that frustration as Visma’s plan worked perfectly.
Dropping to third probably helped him in the end, with Del Toro and Carapaz marking each other somewhat bafflingly as Yates went clear.
Regardless of their tactics, Yates was the strongest and smartest when it mattered most.
