'I can be there, day in and day out with the best guys,' says Orica-Scott rider
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Simon Yates fights to hold on to his lead(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) gets the KOM jersey on the stage 1 podium at Tour de Romandie(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Yates celebrates his victory at the Tour de Romandie(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Yates attacks(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Simon Yates (Orica-Scott)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The legs and the mind were both willing but in the end Simon Yates was unable to hold onto his 19-second race lead during the final 18.3km time trial at the Tour de Romandie.
The Orica-Scott climber, who beat Richie Porte (BMC) to the line on a thrilling queen stage on Saturday, finished a creditable 12th but conceded 40 seconds to an unstoppable Porte. It meant Yates dropped to second overall on the final podium. Despite losing the yellow jersey Yates told Cyclingnews that there were plenty of positives from his week in Switzerland.
"I'm pleased with my ride. I gave the maximum and I didn't make any mistakes. I knew that it was going to be difficult to hold on from the start. I gave it everything and I have to be happy with that," he said.
"I approached it in the same way that I approach every time trial. I was in yellow but I did the same warm up, the same recon in the morning and listened to the same music."
Until just a few weeks ago, Yates had the Giro d'Italia on his race programme was and not scheduled to ride the Tour de Romandie. However a knee injury to teammate Esteban Chaves saw Orica-Scott realign their Grand Tour ambitions.
Yates decided to shift focus and aim for the Tour de France, leaving him with a new programme that included Tour de Romandie, the Criterium du Dauphine and possibly the British national championships.
He started the Tour de Romandie with decent form, having enjoyed a strong spring, but the most pleasing aspect he took from Switzerland was the way in which is body is maturing and his consistency improving.
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"I'm going to have a bit of a break now and just enjoy the moment. It's still one of my better moments in a GC result. I'm happy with that, he said.
"The most pleasing part is that I've been consistent and that I've been able to back it up day after day. The most positive thing for me is that I can be there, day in and day out with the best guys. Every now and then I have a bad day but I'm only human."
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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.
