Simon Yates will start 2021 Giro d’Italia as top favorite to win maglia rosa after his strong performance in Tour of the Alps.
The British rider will be supported in the mountain stages by the experienced Mikel Nieve and Tanel Kangert. The versatile helpers Chris Juul-Jensen, Cameron Meyer and Michael Hepburn also have to assist Yates. Giro debutants Callum Scotson and Nick Schultz complete the selection.
“The Alps has short stages and is a week long, the Giro is three weeks long. I wouldn’t read too much into that,” Yates said. “I’m happy with my condition and how the Alps went, but the Giro isn’t the same sort of race, we’ll have to take it as it comes.”
“There are a lot of good riders here and I’m not going to name names. Everybody is coming here off different kinds of preparation, so there are lots of different people to watch.”
“You have to be calm and careful throughout the entire race. There are one or two tests early on in this year’s Giro, a harder second week, then it’s even harder in the third.”
“I’m getting more experienced, I hope I’m learning how to work better. The team’s not really been targetting GC for that long compared to other squads. We’ve got one of the strongest teams to control the race and they looked after me very well in Tour of the Alps, too. I have a lot of trust in them and that’s all I can ask for.”
“A race like the Giro is always won in the third week. I know that from personal experience. And that’s why I need to be cautious and calm. You have to understand that this race is three weeks long, not one.”
