Adam Yates insisted that he was not yet "in top shape" but his form was good enough to seal a second consecutive victory at the Tour of Oman on his season debut. He gave UAE Team Emirates-XRG their sixth victory in less than a month of early racing, with Tadej Pogačar still to make his season debut.
32-year-old Yates has been given a leadership role for the 2025 Giro d'Italia alongside Juan Ayuso and is then expected to ride in support of Pogačar at the Tour de France.
"I'm just happy to win," Yates said after pulling on the Tour of Oman winner's red jersey.
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"I'm not actually in top shape right now. I need to be good for a long time later in the year. I'm happy to be at this level and fight for the win. It's a good sign for the future."
Yates won the 2024 Tour of Oman by winning on Green Mountain. This year he couldn't match Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep) in the final uphill sprint to the finish line carved into the side of the mountain but had already distanced David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) to ensure overall victory.
Gaudu had beaten Yates on the steep stage 3 finish to Eastern Mountain but the Lancastrian always had his eye on the overall prize.
"We knew from the start of the week that this would be the key stage," he explained.
"There was a hard climb on stage 3 but it was shorter and more explosive. We waited for today and it turned out to be a good day."
"Throughout the stage we rode a really good race. We pulled from the beginning because we knew the best thing was to control the break and take the time bonus at the end."
Yates could put on UAE Team Emirates-XRG strength in depth. The team led the chase of a dangerous attack and then Rafa Majka and Jay Vine sacrificed their hopes to ride for Yates.
"Jay and Rafa did a really good job. We need the pace to be high from the beginning of the climb, it's 18 or 19 minutes long, so it's a hard climb," Yates explained.
"I knew the climb went steeper, so I just went all in. I don't really have the acceleration anymore. I have more of a slower burn but it's still effective. I did it until about 150 metres to go and then then we sprinted to the line. He's a little faster and won the stage but I won the GC."
