Yates wins Giro d'Italia title for second Grand Tour victory
ROME :Simon Yates of Visma-Lease a Bike won the 2025 Giro d'Italia on Sunday to claim his second Grand Tour victory, having effectively sealed the title a day earlier when he snatched the pink jersey from Isaac Del Toro.
Yates and other riders received blessings from Pope Leo at the Vatican before the Briton cruised to the finish in Rome on the final stage, which was won by his team mate Olav Kooij in a sprint finish.
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Independent Singapore
21 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
Great Britain's Simon Yates wins his first Giro d'Italia title in Rome
ITALY: Britain's Simon Yates successfully won his first Giro d'Italia title, finishing with a career-defining performance in Rome. With his outstanding win, the athlete expressed: 'It's the defining moment of my career… I've had some good successes, but I don't think anything else comes close.' He added: 'It's really still sinking in. An amazing three weeks… I will celebrate for sure, and we'll see what else is to come.' The athlete then celebrated with his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates during a celebratory ride through the streets of Rome. This milestone adds the Giro title to his Vuelta a España win back in 2018. Furthermore, it also solidified his status as one of Britain's elite Grand Tour riders. Highlights of the race The 32-year-old athlete made a bold move during the penultimate stage as he delivered a powerful attack on the second-to-last climb. This allowed him to be the overall lead, coming in third place. Yates defended the leader's pink jersey for the very first time and confidently held on to it until the final stage, sealing the biggest win of his athletic career. Yates became the second British male cyclist to have won multiple Grand Tours, alongside Chris Froome, who clinched seven titles. Moreover, he is the third British rider to win the Giro d'Italia, following the historic moments of Froome's 2018 victory and Tao Geoghegan Hart's 2020 win. Yates finished three minutes and 56 seconds ahead of Isaac del Toro of Mexico, who placed second. Del Toro also took home the white jersey as the best young rider of the race. Richard Carapaz of Ecuador secured third place, 47 seconds behind Del Toro. Furthermore, Mads Pedersen of Denmark won the mauve jersey for the points classification, while Lorenzo Fortunato of Italy was awarded the blue jersey for best climber in the mountains classification. Here is the final general classification of the Giro d'Italia in Rome: Simon Yates (GB/Visma-Lease A Bike) = 79 hours 18 mins 42 secs Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) = +3 mins 56 secs Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) = +4 mins 43 secs Derek Gee (Can/Israel-Premier Tech) = +6 mins 23 secs Damiano Caruso (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) = +7 mins 32 secs Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) = +9 mins 28 secs Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) = +12 mins 42 secs Einer Rubio (Col/Movistar) = +13 mins 5 secs Brandon McNulty (US/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) = +13 mins 36 secs Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling) = +14 mins 27 secs In a social media post shared by Giro d'Italia, it stated: 'Simon Yates wins the Giro d'Italia 2025 🩷🏆.' Netizens expressed their support in the comments section and remarked: 'Back to where we belong 🔝in a pure Visma fashion. It's so amazing to see everyone smiling and with happy tears ❤️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻,' 'Great riding we'll deserved 💪👍,' 'what a ride😍🔥,' and 'Pink suits you @simonyatess 😏🩷 You deserved this victory 🫶🏻.'
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Simon Yates overcomes doubts to secure his first Giro d'Italia triumph
Simon Yates (above) is the first man to win the Giro without taking a single stage since Alberto Contador 10 years ago. PHOTO: REUTERS – Simon Yates won the Giro d'Italia on June 1 after cruising home in the pack to seal a career-defining victory in the final procession stage, won by his teammate Olav Kooij, around Rome. Briton Yates effectively secured his second Grand Tour triumph on May 31 when he took the leader's pink jersey from Isaac del Toro with an epic effort in the Italian Alps. Yates, a 32-year-old who rides for Visma-Lease a bike, is the first man to win the Giro without taking a single stage since Alberto Contador 10 years ago. Yates came out on top in a Giro missing 2024 winner Tadej Pogacar and Yates' teammate Jonas Vingegaard and blown wide open by the retirements of pre-race favourites Primoz Roglic and Juan Ayuso. He is the Giro's 12th different winner in as many editions. The win also validates Yates' pre-season decision to move to cycling giants Visma after 10 years with the same Australian team, now called Jayco-AlUla. 'I wanted to come to a team that knew how to win the Grand Tours. They have done it successfully with different riders and it's looking like it paid off,' said Yates. 'All of us have doubts if we are doing the right thing or on the right path. I've also had a lot of setbacks, not just here at the Giro but at other races as well, where I've thought maybe it's time to stop and do something else. 'I had no bad luck this year, which is what I had in the past.' Kooij won the bunch sprint which has become a feature of the finales in Rome, pipping Kaden Groves, Matteo Moschetti and Mads Pedersen to claim his second win of this year's hugely entertaining three-week race around Italy. Visma wanted the perfect finish, with Yates and Kooij both victorious in the Eternal City, and they executed it to perfection when Wout van Aert led the sprint out on the final kilometre before Kooij surged ahead to take the victory, his second after winning stage 12. 'We couldn't wish for a better final weekend. Yesterday was really amazing for the team and today I just had to give everything that was still left in the legs. The team made it a lot easier. I just had to push it until the line,' said Kooij. 'With sprints it's never easy to do it like perfectly, but today we really committed, we just went all in, we were in perfect position and just happy to make it to the line. 'I was really happy with this Giro, making it to Rome and then winning here, it's really special.' Van Aert added: 'When the ketchup bottle is almost empty... keep shaking, shaking, shaking. Then at some point everything comes out at once, that's what happened. Yates started the day stood alongside Pope Leo XIV who blessed the peloton in a short stop in Vatican City before the race proper started. The Pope told the riders: 'I hope that, just as you have learned to take care of your bodies, you will also take care of your spirits.' The riders dismounted in front of the pontiff and Yates shook the Pope's hand before standing alongside points jersey winner Pederson, king of the mountains Lorenzo Fortunato and del Toro for a pre-race blessing. 'For some reason, I didn't realise we were going to stop. Immediately I thought we just passed through. An unforgettable moment for me and, I think, for all the riders,' said Yates. Del Toro had to content himself with the white jersey for best young rider after failing to spot the danger in Yates' attack on the Colle delle Finestre climb on May 31, which ended up deciding the title. Yates could still be on a high from his Giro win when he lines up alongside Vingegaard at the upcoming Tour de France which starts on July 5. AFP, REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
a day ago
- CNA
Spalletti confident in Italy's quest for World Cup return
Italy manager Luciano Spalletti is framing Friday's clash at Norway as a decisive moment in their 2026 World Cup qualification and says his side are fully equipped to deliver. Spalletti's side begin their qualifying campaign in Group I in Oslo against hosts off to a flying start with six points from two matches and nine goals scored. Four-time World Cup champions Italy have failed to reach the World Cup finals since 2014, and are only now beginning their qualifiers after competing in the Nations League quarter-finals in March, where they lost to Germany. "Let's be clear: in Norway, everything is on the line when it comes to whether or not we'll qualify for the World Cup," Spalletti told reporters. "We have a duty to fulfil this task that's been entrusted to us. We need to qualify because it's absolutely crucial for us. "As for us, we have everything we need to play our game. We have all the potential for a great match, and that's exactly what we intend to put into practice." Norway coach Stale Solbakken was also optimistic. "I'm not sure they're the favourites. For me, it's more of a 50–50 match on our home ground," he told reporters. "The most important thing for us is that we are ourselves." The 2026 World Cup will take place in Canada, Mexico, and the United States from 11 June to 19 July next year.
