“The best news so far is that he’s had a very good winter” is how Team BikeExchange-Jayco head Sports Director Matt White sumed up the current state of play for the Australian squad’s Grand Tour contender Simon Yates.
Currently making his 2022 debut in the Ruta del Sol in Spain, Yates has looked good on both the two opening stages, finishing just 13 seconds off the pace on the steep uphill finish that decided Thursday’s second day of racing and lying l9 seconds down overall on race leader Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates).
Yates has taken some excellent results in the past in the Ruta del Sol, including the toughest mountain stage through the foothills of Sierra Nevada back in 2019.
But regardless of what this week holds for the 29-year-old, as White sees it, Yates will be profiting way deeper into the year from not having any setbacks through his winter training.
“He hasn’t been sick, he hasn’t been injured so he’s had uninterrupted training which is good because when you go into the season, things do happen,” White said.
“And now with COVID where people can be losing time [from training], or you have little crashes, if you’ve got a really good foundation you can afford that. If not, then you’re chasing your tail and it’s not good.
“Our preparation for the Giro starts here, and he’s got a busy schedule ahead of him. We do that, then we park it for a bit, and then go to the Giro.”
Yates himself confirmed to Cyclingnews that he will be taking part both in Paris-Nice, where he took second overall in 2018 and has won three stages in the past, as well as making a return to the Volta a Catalunya, where back in 2018 he won the prestigious final stage through Montjuic Park in Barcelona en route to fourth overall.
“It’s hard to put a number on, but I definitely had a better off-season and pre-season,” Yates told Cyclingnews before stage two of the Ruta del Sol, “although this is the first race, so it’s always hard to know exactly how you’re doing.
“Hopefully I'll get better and better through this race and be in really good shape for Paris-Nice and Catalunya.”
In both the French and Catalan week-long events, he says, he’ll be going for GC. “I always go for that in those races. I haven’t done Paris-Nice since 2019, but I’m looking forward to being back.”
Yates' biggest goal of the first half of the season, though, is undoubtably the Giro. Third overall last year, this time round Yates says he will hopefully be aiming to go better in 2022 than his already impressive result in 2021.
“I’ll try my best. We’ve had a lot of changes in the team - new bike, new equipment, all sorts of stuff, couple of new riders, whichh will hopefully help make the difference from just being on the podium to going for the win,” is how Yates sees the current situation.
“I had a good winter, no illnesses or anything like that. I felt good yesterday (Wednesday) although I’m still getting used to the nervousness of the peloton. But the legs are good.”
