Chaves to make 2019 debut at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
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Simon and Adam Yates at the Vuelta a España team presentation(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Best young rider, Adam Yates (Orica-Scott)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Smiles from Adam Yates at the Tour de France presentation(Image credit: Getty Images)
Adam Yates leads brother Simon during stage 17 at the Vuelta(Image credit: Getty Images)
Most of the Grand Tour GC hopefuls have confirmed their racing plans for 2019, with the odd exception over whether Geraint Thomas takes on the Giro d'Italia as well as the defense of his Tour de France title. Another British rider yet to publicly confirm his schedule for the season is Mitchelton Scott's climber Adam Yates. His team have not officially announced his full 2019 schedule but the Tour de France has been penciled in.
In 2018 the 26-year-old came into the Tour de France on the back of a second place overall at the Criterium du Dauphine. At the Tour he was well placed after the first week but was unable to hold his form in the mountains. He competed in the Vuelta a Espana later in the season and helped his brother Simon Yates and Mitchelton Scott win their maiden Grand Tour title.
This season Simon Yates will target the Giro d'Italia - a race he dominated in 2018 all but for the final few days when he cracked in the mountains while wearing the maglia rosa.
"We know for sure that he's not doing the Giro," Matt White told Cyclingnews when asked about Adam Yates' plans for this campaign.
"The Tour is a much more likely destination but we'll reveal all of that in the next few weeks."
Yates will start his season in February at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he will line up alongside Colombian teammate Esteban Chaves. The 29-year-old has not raced since the Giro d'Italia having missed the majority of last year through illness. His Grand Tour plans are still unclear as he will use the first few months of 2019 to feel his way back into racing. It is possible that Chaves will compete in the Giro d'Italia but that will entirely depend on how the first few months of his return to racing pan out.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
