SESTRIERE – «I have invested a lot of my career and my life for the Giro. There have been many setbacks and it has been difficult to deal with them.I was forced to withdraw due to a knee problem, a couple of times due to Covid and so on. So I'm really incredulous that I managed to do all this. It's hard to say now, but To be honest, I think it's the pinnacle of my careerI've tried for years, and I can't believe I've succeeded. I don't think anything can top it."
Simon Yates isn't shy about showing his tears. Almost an hour has passed since his victory, and the new pink jersey has finally arrived to answer our questions. He launched the decisive attack on the Colle delle Finestre with 39 kilometres to go, when it seemed that the match was narrowed between Carapaz and Del ToroHe started more or less at the point where seven years ago he went into crisis due to Froome's attack and lost the pink jersey. It was a sporting drama, just like the one that has hit today Del Toro. Somehow it was like he came back to close the circle and the Piedmontese mountain gave him back what was his.
Revenge for two
The hug between Simon and Kruijswijk, as soon as the Dutchman also crossed the finish line, spoke more than a thousand words. Both saw their pink dream vanish in the final stages of the Giro: it happened to Steven in 2016 when he fell on Colle dell'Agnello. Yates' feat also avenged his defeatThey hugged each other tightly, then Simon came to us.
«In the final 100 meters – he says – it was the moment I finally realized what I'd doneI really didn't believe it, even though I had a significant lead. My legs were starting to feel tired, and I couldn't believe it until the end. When I attacked, I had the idea of getting as far away as possible from those two guys on the podium, because I knew that once I did that, I would be strong enough to keep up a high pace. Del Toro and Carapaz had shown to be much more explosive in the final, so my plan today was to try to get a head start and then try to handle everything myself».
Easy to say. He speaks the whole time with his gaze down., who knows what's going through his head. He, the twin bent by so many defeats, while Adam continued to win becoming Pogacar's right-hand man and now of Del Toro. Yet with that attack the trend reversed. Simon Yates began to carve the furrow, biting the hairpin bends and dancing on the dirt road of Colle delle FinestreIt was thought that Carapaz could have done something similar, but instead the Ecuadorian found himself tied hand and foot to Isaac's dramatic fate. Del Toro.
Yesterday you said you didn't really feel like tackling dirt roads.
Because I really love to pedal standing up and on dirt it is very difficult to have the right traction. But today I felt really good. I managed to push to the top and I knew I still had strength that would sustain me in the endThroughout the stage, the team really believed in me, so once I got to the Finestre, I knew I had to do my part.
Was suffering that defeat seven years ago somehow significant today?
When I saw the Giro route, I always had in mind try to do something on this stage, on this climb that had marked my career so muchI always had it in mind. I felt good the whole race, but I needed to believe in myself.
You remained hidden until the twentieth stage and then with a single attack you won the Giro d'Italia: was it calculated or was it a coincidence?
A bit of both. I knew that, given the way the race was designed, everything would have been decided in this last week. So it was more about staying safe and not wasting time in the first half and that, thanks to my teammates, was really incredible. I've always been in the right place at the right timeI only had to do it myself in the time trials (he smiles shyly, ed.). In this last week, already in the 16th stage (the one on Valentine's Day, ed.), I tried to do something, but I wasn't strong enough. So This morning I had some doubts about actually trying to do something on this climbBut it seemed like the team really believed in me, so I gave it a try and I did it.
How happy were you to meet Van Aert after the Finestre? And was that part of the plan?
I would like to say that every day we had breakaway riders Hoping this same situation would arise. We've been truly committed to this, so every day we have the opportunity, we've tried. But today was the first day we really used it to our advantage.And who was in front? It was Wout (he smiles this time, ed.). I had no doubts, he did everything for me. He allowed me to breathe and increase my lead. It's not the first time he's proven to be one of the best teammates in the world, as well as a great champion.I will definitely thank him and all my teammates.
He leaves remembering when he collapsed defeated on the asphalt on the Block Haus in 2022 and disheartened said that his story with the Giro d'Italia would have ended that yearHe had been racing the Tour for the last two years, but there was an open wound, impossible to forget. La Visma-Lease a Bike he offered him a ticket to the start from Tirana and today, twenty days later, his long journey has begun to take on a complete meaning. He leaves with the relief of having got the boil outThe riders will leave for Rome this evening, and we'll stay a few more hours to tell you their stories.
