Yates rides to Giro d'Italia glory

Visma-Lease a Bike's Brit banished former failure to take pink jersey on Finestre

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There could hardly have been more of a perfect way for Simon Yates to finally win the Giro d'ltalia. On the Colle delle Finestre on Saturday, the sight of his collapse in the pink jersey in 2018, the Briton rode away from everyone, dropping Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz, to claim glory.

Yates returned to the scene where he infamously fell apart, and turned it completely around. The redemptive arc saw the Visma-Lease a Bike rider not just banish his demons, showing that he can succeed on the Finestre, but well and truly exorcise them.

“Once the route was released I always had in the back of my mind that I could come here and close a chapter, maybe not to take the jersey and the race, but at least a stage,” he told TNT Sports on Saturday. “[I wanted to] show myself the way I know I can do. To pull it off, I really didn't believe it. I have to thank the guys in my team because they really believed in me, even during the stage.”