'We've got several leaders' - Adam Yates counts himself among UAE Team Emirates' GC front-runners for Giro d'Italia

Adam Yates has made it clear that he continues to count himself amongst the contenders for the 2025 Giro d'Italia, despite speculation in the media that his form meant he would have a limited role for UAE Team Emirates-XRG in the battle for the maglia rosa.

Earlier this week, when respected French sports daily L'Équipe made its analysis of the pre-race favourites, they awarded Yates' teammate Juan Ayuso four out of five, but gave the British veteran only one, describing his race mission as a 'star domestique for Ayuso'.  

Ayuso has also been stating widely that he is determined to try and win the Giro, while Yates has barely given any interviews since the Volta a Catalunya, his last race.

However,  when he spoke to the media at the stage 1 start of the Giro, Yates made it clear that he was not counting himself out of the GC battle, saying simply, "We've got several leaders."

After becoming the winner of the Tour of Oman for a second year running, Yates played a teammate's role for the up-and-coming Spaniard both in Tirreno-Adriatico, where he was ill, and the Volta a Catalunya, where Ayuso finished first and second overall.

But on Friday at Durres, the Briton told reporters that he was in rising shape after a solid training camp at altitude in April, and certainly he had no problem staying with the main group on stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia, finishing 26th alongside Ayuso.

"My win in Oman was real good, it was nice to win there, then I kind of missed a bit in the next two races, a lot of guys came to train at altitude for the Tour preparation, and I wanted to be a little more calm and cautious," Yates said.

"Those two races were not the best experience for me, but I think every week since then, I've been feeling better and better. The training camp's gone good, so here we are."

After last year's Giro where there was no doubt which UAE Team Emirates rider was their top contender - and Tadej Pogačar went on to win no less than six stages and the overall, too -  when asked who their top rider was or if it was multiple contenders, Yates answered simply, "We've got several leaders."

"Everyone's going good, everyone's been training really well, we're not concerned about it," he added.

"We'll work it out, the whole team is at a super high level, and we can use that to our advantage."

Yates recognised that the team might not have the top favourite for the Giro d'Italia - widely agreed to be Primož Roglič (Visma-Lease a Bike) -  but that he formed part of the group of riders who were best prepared to give the Slovenian a run for his money in the overall battle.

"We've maybe not got the big favourite, we've got plenty of guys in the second group and we can maybe use that to our advantage.

"We just have to be smart, take our time and be patient and see how the race pans out."

Yates was far from the only UAE racer in the front group alongside Ayuso. Both Isaac del Toro and Brandon McNulty also finished ahead, and it will be intriguing to see how McNulty, in particular, already the winner of the opening Vuelta a España last year, fares in Saturday's first race against the clock.

"It's a stacked start list, we've got to be careful and stay out of trouble these first few days," Yates concluded. "Then we'll see about GC after that."

Cyclingnews also spoke to UAE Team Emirates sports director Fabio Baldato in the countdown to the Giro d'Italia, who confirmed that Yates and Ayuso were "both at a great level.

"I was at the training camp with them, and I can check the numbers  - the guys are good, they are ready," he insisted.

"I hope the two of them stay together [on GC] for as long as possible, and then the race itself will decide who the real captain is." 

That moment might not arrive, Baldato said, in the third week, when the really tough Giro stages would establish a clear difference, although in other interviews he suggested that the time trial in Tuscany could also be a key moment in the process of establishing a clear hierarchy.

"We need to get there and see what happens, then maybe we can make a choice," he explained. "But not now. We can also work better as a team that way, which is the main reason why we have both."

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