Between the tears and the frequent interruptions and congratulations from teammates past and present, Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) could hardly complete his post-race interview as the new leader of the Giro d'Italia after stage 20.
The tears began to flow for the Brit almost as soon as he crossed the line, and were still choking him up when he made his appearance in front of TV cameras some 20 minutes later. Even in his press conference, a long while after the stage, by which time most riders have composed themselves, Yates' eyes were still wet.
Yates is, of course, already a Grand Tour winner, taking the Vuelta a España title in 2018. But the Giro is the race where he's often put the most focus, and had the worst luck. So given he had finally conquered the race that has challenged him so much, after doing so, his feelings were logically that much the deeper.
"I'm quite emotional," Yates said, probably an understatement, as he struggled to speak through tears. "It's something that I've worked towards, the Giro itself, for many, many years and I've come up short. But today's my day."
As the media kept reminding him, plenty of days in Italy have not been his day, whether it was losing time on the Blockhaus in 2022, or the unforgettable capitulation on the Colle delle Finestre that saw him cede nearly 40 minutes in 2018, just when it looked he might win the race.
Closing a chapter
Thinking back to those days likely made Yates' emotions swell up again. But it also made this year's victory even sweeter.
"I've really invested a lot of my career and my life into targeting this race, and there've been a lot of setbacks. And it's been hard to deal with," he said.
"In Blockhaus, I had to retire from that edition with a knee injury, a couple of times with Covid, illnesses, you name it. So I'm really in disbelief that I've finally managed to pull it off."
It was, of course, lost on absolutely no one that Yates managed to pull off his Giro d'Italia victory on the very climb that undid his almost-win in 2018. Though Yates had avoided too much talk of that day and this climb so far in this year's race, he revealed on Saturday that he had always wanted to come back and right some wrongs on the Finestre.
"When the parcours was announced, I had the idea to come back and maybe close that chapter," he said. "Maybe not to take the race like I've just done now, but at least to try and to show myself the way that I can.
"I always had in the back of my mind to try something on this stage, and on this climb that's defined my career so far. So I always had it in the back of my mind and I've been feeling good all race, but I just needed to believe in myself and in the end I had the legs to do something there."
As well as believing in himself, Yates was at pains to thank the support and belief of his new Visma-Lease a Bike team, who convinced him to attack the Colle delle Finestre even after the past left him with concerns as late as Saturday morning.
"You can see the reaction from everybody, they believed in me," Yates said. "Even this morning I had doubts about whether to try something because the other two guys in front of me had been stronger than me for most of the race. But the guys believed in me from the start."
Even as those teammates arrived in turn to hug, congratulate and celebrate with Yates at the finish, the 32-year-old was still struggling to process exactly what had happened.
"It's still sinking in a little bit for me, but it's a bit of a fairytale, I think," he said. "I really can't believe that I've pulled it off."
Rome awaits
There's still 24 hours to go until Yates will step onto the podium in Rome as the official winner of the Giro d'Italia. But all being well, the race is his, and Saturday will likely go down as one of his best days of racing ever. Celebrations in Rome will likely be more fun than battling up the Finestre, but for Yates, it doesn't get better than this.
"In this moment, it's hard to say, but to be honest I think it's the peak of my career. I don't think anything will top this," he said. "I'm not getting any younger as well, and especially the Giro is something I've really targeted for many, many years and not been able to pull it off. I think this is the best it will be."
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