Simon Yates conquers his demons to stunningly snatch Giro d'Italia glory on penultimate day
Simon Yates stands to win the Giro d'Italia after putting to bed his personal demons on the Colle delle Finestre with a stunning solo attack that put him in pink after the penultimate stage.
On the mountain where his dreams of Giro victory were shattered by Chris Froome 's famous solo breakaway in 2018, Yates turned the tables with a masterclass of his own as his rivals were left to question their own tactics.
The 32-year-old Lancastrian rode away from Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz on the brutal gradients and the gravel to turn an 81-second deficit and third place into pink and a three minute, 56-second lead over Del Toro, and can now celebrate his second Grand Tour crown in Rome on Sunday.
That it happened on the Finestre made it all the more special for Yates.
'I think when the route of the parcours was released, I always had in the back of my mind to try and do something here and close the chapter, let's say,' he said. 'I'm just still a bit speechless that I was able to do it.
'I felt good, the whole race I did, but I never had the right moment to show what I could do and I found the opportunity today. I was trying to get away from Richard and Isaac because I knew when I could race at my own pace, I'd be really strong – and that's what I managed to do.
'The whole team have been fantastic the entire race, and without Wout (Van Aert) in the valley and the rest of the team the entire day, it wouldn't have been possible.
'Maybe I was looking relaxed this morning, but I had doubts I could do it. The guys encouraged me and believed in me, so thanks to them.
'It's unbelievable, I'm trying to find the words now, but words are failing me – sorry.'
Australian Chris Harper took the stage 20 win from a breakaway in Sestriere but all eyes were further down the road as Yates blew the race apart with surely his finest day on a bike, shedding tears after the finish line.
Carapaz and his EF Education-EasyPost team had been lining up an attack at the foot of the feared Finestre – the 18km climb which averages 9.2 per cent, with the final third ridden on gravel – and duly launched it almost as soon as the road went up.
As UAE Team Emirates' Del Toro followed, Yates was initially distanced but was merely biding his time as he soon set off in pursuit, catching the pair and then launching his own attacks, opening up a gap with the fourth and riding clear, still with more than 40km of the 205km stage remaining.
Carapaz tried to respond but could not, while the 21-year-old Del Toro, spending an 11th day in the pink jersey, simply stuck the Ecuadorian's wheel, refusing to take a turn until it proved to be too late.
Yates crossed the summit of the climb, above the snow line and in the clouds, more than 90 seconds ahead of them, already the virtual leader of the race.
That gap only grew on the descent as he hooked up with Visma-Lease a Bike team-mate Wout Van Aert and the pair behind accepted defeat, allowing the gap to balloon on the approach to the final climb into Sestriere.
With Sunday's final stage in Rome one for the sprinters, Yates stands ready to celebrate his second Grand Tour victory following his win in the 2018 Vuelta a Espana. He will be the third Briton to win the Giro after Froome in 2018 and Tao Geohegan Hart in 2020.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
39 minutes ago
- Times
Milan v Rome: which city is better?
If you're looking for a city that's hot right now, Milan is the obvious choice. The Lombard capital works hard by day and parties even harder by night. It's cultured, elegant and exclusive — which is probably why it has taken a while to shake off its reputation for seriousness. I've been coming here since I was a child — to see family, fashion and art — and I've witnessed its evolution first-hand, from a closed metropolitan hub to a vibrant design centre that really opened up to visitors when it hosted Expo 2015. It gets better with every trip. While aficionados still dress up in their finery for first nights at the historic opera house, La Scala, and bag the front row at Milan Fashion Week, this is also the city that dared to erect Maurizio Cattelan's 11m sculpture of a middle finger pointing skywards in front of the Italian stock exchange. In contrast, Rome's eternal charms could take a lifetime to explore. It's often holidaymakers' first choice for an Italian city break — and it's hard to overstate its wonders. With more than 35 million visitors annually — putting it at No 2 in the European league table —– it combines its extraordinary weight of history with all the dynamism of a modern capital. The fact that the Catholic church is celebrating a jubilee year in 2025 means the city has undergone an unprecedented restoration effort, with monuments, churches and fountains — including the Trevi — getting a glow-up. Rome is constantly evolving, which is just one of the reasons I love it. A wave of recent five-star hotel openings — including the Bulgari, Six Senses and Edition — plus innovative restaurants and art galleries popping up next to old-school religious guesthouses and 100-year-old trattorie proves just how vibrant the energy is in this ancient capital. So given the choice, which of these glorious cities would you pick for a weekend break? Which has better food, activities, hotels, and culture? Here's our verdict. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue Winner It's a tie Milan has a vibrant social life, which means this powerhouse northern city now gladly opens its doors — and its hearts — to visitors all year round. Milan Fashion Week in February and September and the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in April creates a buzz that is all about the new. This activity is sustained by a community that champions contemporary art and design (you will find open studios from Brera to Isola) and an aperitivo culture that has seen the former canal district, Navigli, transformed from a shabby backwater into the liveliest hangout in town. The towpaths are packed with cool cafés, bars and hotels, while verdant courtyards are home to artisan markets and chic boutiques. For the ultimate high-fashion experience, the Golden Triangle, or Quadrilatero d'Oro, taking in Via Monte Napoleone, Via della Spiga and Via Sant'Andrea, is where you will find Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Valentino, Pucci, Gucci and the rest. Pop into Il Cigno Nero (one of my favourite bars) for an espresso at the elegant counter — be sure to dress accordingly. Then take yourself and your finery to La Scala for an evening opera performance. Rome is the city that never sleeps. There is a bar on every corner – the best of which are in the centro storico, from Cul De Sac, an enoteca close to Piazza Navona with more than 1,500 wines on offer, to Cielo, a panoramic rooftop hangout at the top of the Hotel de la Ville, with views of the Spanish Steps. The cool Monti area is the epicentre of Rome's younger cocktail-bar scene, while the city also offers jazz venues, late-night clubs and hip cabarets across Ostiense, Testaccio, San Lorenzo and charming Trastevere. For classical and ballet, the Teatro dell'Opera is first-class. By day, design shoppers head for Via Condotti, where alongside the big fashion brands you will find art galleries, antiques shops and chic home stores. For vintage, it's back to Monti, and for a dreamy mix of jewellery, handmade clothing, rare books and second-hand, head for cobbled Via del Governo Vecchio — one of the loveliest streets in Rome. Tui Italia has a four-day guided Discovering Milan tour that takes in the city's cultural highlights. Exodus Adventure Travels has an eight-day guided Rome, Assisi and Magical Umbria — Premium Adventure walking tour that starts and ends in the Italian capital. • Best things to do in Rome• Best things to do in MilanWinner Milan 'Italian' food does not exist as a simple concept. This country, still relatively young, consists of 20 distinct regions — and the identity of its food and wine, despite common themes, varies wildly. Milan has its traditional favourites — costoletta (breaded veal), ossobuco (braised veal shanks) and risotto (with costly saffron). Yet this focus on the richly complex classics does not detract from the fact that Milan has a wildly exciting and constantly changing culinary scene, keeping the cosmopolitan crowd on its toes. From two Michelin-starred Seta, with the brilliant Antonio Guida at the helm, via Langosteria in Navigli — the best place for fish and seafood — to the leafy courtyard at Identita Golose, where acclaimed chefs from all over Italy recreate their most famous dishes, Milan has the high end covered. Neighbourhood favourites, meanwhile, include Pasticceria Cucchi, one of the last grand cafés in Milan to bake on the premises; Bice, a traditional trattoria in the fashion district; and seven-table La Latteria, a 70-year-old institution that closed in 2024 before reopening in 2025 under the new ownership of fashion brand Loro Piana. Roman food culture, meanwhile, is firmly anchored in the tradition of cucina povera — cooking that transforms humble ingredients into works of gastronomic art. Pasta alla carbonara, trippa alla Romana (tripe in tomato sauce) and carciofi alla giudia (deep-fried artichokes) are stalwarts. The restaurant list has its big-hitters — Imago at the Hassler, Heinz Beck's La Pergola at the Rome Cavalieri — but what Rome does best is modest, forward-looking food in convivial surroundings: the delicious Mazzo in San Lorenzo, Roscioli's deli/restaurant near Campo de' Fiori, and Osteria La Segreta on gorgeous Via Margutta, with a twist on the flavours of Campania. • Best restaurants in Rome Newmarket Holidays has an eight-day guided tour of Milan, Verona and Lake Garda focusing on the culture, gastronomy and romance of northern Italy's finest cities. Intrepid Travel has an eight-day guided Italy Real Food Adventure Tour, which kicks off in Venice and concludes in Rome. • Read our full guide to Rome• Discover our full guide to Milan Winner Rome As the capital of Italian fashion and high finance, Milan has a long history of elegant outposts to satisfy its VIP visitors: Mandarin Oriental, Bulgari, Armani, the Principe di Savoia and the revamped Four Seasons have long been top of my personal list. Dig deeper, however, and you will discover that some of Milan's loveliest B&Bs and boutique hotels are much more affordable: gated palazzi within reach of the Duomo (Antica Locanda dei Mercanti), hubs that double up as spaces to stay and co-work (21 House of Stories), converted fashion studios (Vico Milano) and former family homes (LaFavia) that hum with energy. • Best hotels in Milan• Best affordable hotels in Milan After decades of relative stasis, in which old-school grandes dames including the Eden and the Hassler were frequently outdone in style and substance by small-scale boutique outfits such as the cool PiazzadiSpagna9, Rome is experiencing a boom in its high-end hotel market. The arrival of the W in a conceptual whirl in 2021, followed by the marble-clad Six Senses, playful Edition and opulently restrained Bulgari, provided luxury travellers with some pleasantly tricky choices. At the other end of the scale, boutique options such as the neat Hotel Monte Cenci and hip hangout the Hoxton ensure style and service at rates that won't make your eyes water. • Best hotels in Rome• Best affordable hotels in Rome Close to Carla Sozzani's 10 Corso Como, B&B LaFavia has four beautifully designed rooms and a terrace with jasmine and banana trees. Part of the Ferragamo fashion empire, Portrait Roma is an elegant townhouse off Via Condotti, decorated with photos of the family's starry Rome It's a tough call when you are up against one of the most historically important — and marvellously storied — cities in the western hemisphere. But Milan punches well above its weight and nothing will bowl you over quite like the Duomo, the wedding-cake cathedral heavy with pink Candoglia marble that is one of the largest in the world. Begun in 1386, it took almost six centuries to complete. The 15th-century Castello Sforzesco is home to museums of archaeology, art and sculpture, surrounded by the manicured green spaces of the Parco Sempione. The Pinacoteca di Brera is a treasure trove of classical Italian art — highlights include Caravaggio, Raphael and Piero della Francesca — while La Scala, in a riot of gilding and red velvet, delights in stories of high-jinks in the boxes and the tantrums of divas past. Perhaps the nation's most famous work of art still resides in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie:Leonardo da Vinci's heartbreaking The Last Supper, depicting the moment when Christ reveals to his 12 disciples that one of them will betray him. Your first visit to Rome will blow your mind. I guarantee it. This repository of 3,000 years of art and culture is home to many of the greatest masterpieces in the world, and its beauty is unparalleled. The Forum is the heart of the ancient city: it hosted the seat of government, the law courts, the temples — and the shops. The pretty Palatine Hill is where, according to myth, Romulus founded Rome, and where the emperors built their palaces. The Colosseum is half-circus, half-sports arena, and gives a fabulous glimpse of the city's vicious underbelly. The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel house centuries of papal commissions by the greatest European painters — the Raphael Rooms and the Gallery of Maps are particular highlights. Throw a coin into the Fontana di Trevi to ensure your return to Rome; next time take in Hadrian's Pantheon and its spectacular concrete dome; the Capitoline, widely considered the world's oldest public museum; and the spectacular art in the Villa Borghese. Try this 12-day guided Highlights of Rome and the Beautiful Amalfi Coast tour that explores the ancient city. Indus Travels has a ten-day guided Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan by Rail tour that ends with two days in the Lombard For me, it's Rome — by a squeak. Where else can you find the history of the Western world in microcosm? I left it way too long to come here — and I've been making up for lost time ever since. But that doesn't mean that, when asked where I might one day settle in Italy, my first thought isn't Milan, that elegant northern powerhouse that richly rewards the visitors who work hard to seek out its treasures. • Best cities to visit in Italy• Beautiful places to visit in Italy
Times
40 minutes ago
- Times
What I learnt about Englishness in this bafflingly undervalued region
On the day I drive home from my bike ride, the village of Bibury in the Cotswolds shelves plans for a parking area for 130 cars and 10 coaches. As many as 20,000 visitors arrive in the village each weekend. 'We want to manage the overtourism we've already got,' a resident tells BBC Radio Gloucestershire. People keep coming, the reporter says, because social media promotes Bibury as quintessential pastoral England. I think: they're in the wrong county, though. For I've just come from quintessential pastoral England, having spent two days on lanes unknown to coach tours, among shapely hills, small farms and slumbering villages. This is the finest full-spectrum evocation of the English countryside I've experienced, in a region where the words of William Blake seem to drift through hedgerows. And it lies not in the Cotswolds but further west, in Herefordshire, a county that in 2023 received 5.87 million visitors to the Cotswolds' 35 million. I hadn't really come for a deep dive into Englishness. I'd arrived to go cycling. In early May White Heron, a collection of luxury farm stays on the Hilditch family's estate 20 miles northwest of Hereford, launched guided bike tours. 'There's lots of cycling around Ludlow and Hereford but no one comes here,' explains Gio Hilditch, husband of the farm's owner, Jo, once I arrive. 'Here' is the Welsh Marches, a fold in the map between England and Wales that Gio has been exploring with his cycling buddies for 30 years. If that suggests a trip pistoning along back lanes, fear not. First, this one uses ebikes (Ridgeback X2 hybrids, cycle geeks). Second, it's billed as a meander — over two days you cover just 30 miles. The aim is rather to reveal a bafflingly undervalued region. Before we begin, Jo wants to show off her estate. So would you if you were a fourth-generation farmer of 700 acres, scion of a great-grandfather who led an association of Hereford cattle, the hardy bovine that put the 'cow' into the cowboys of the American west. On a still evening the three of us pedal around the estate, and I learn about sustainable chicken rearing (who knew chicken poo alone could fuel three 600kW boilers?) and the minutiae of growing blackcurrants ('they all go to Ribena'). In avenues of apple blossom I'm reminded of weddings. Wood pigeons coo. Pheasants cough in hedgerows. As the sun sizzles on the horizon, nature holds its breath in a moment of quiet magic. Led by Jo and Gio, our five-strong peloton gathers the next morning. Two are regular cyclists, the rest of us are part-time pedallers. From the off it's terrific. Either side of a stripe of grass, we cycle two abreast on lanes frothy with cow parsley and bluebells. The town of Kington appears. Handsome streets, a butcher in a blue apron laying sausages in the window, a whiff of patchouli incense: it's the first intimation of the border country's split personality, equal parts yeoman farmers and alternative downshifters. What unites them is a love of this green and pleasant land. Outside Kington we ride across the roof of the Marches. The Offa's Dyke Path along Hergest Ridge provides euphoric widescreen views. Hills recede into a blue-grey haze below. A skylark warbles unseen. When we pause I realise there's no growl of internal combustion engine, no whine of passing jet. It feels a privilege to be here. • 15 of the most beautiful places in England Denys Corbett Wilson would have recognised the view, if not the silence. In 1912 he laid a wager with Damer Leslie Allen over which of them would be the first person to fly from England to Ireland. Wilson soared over Hergest Ridge before making an emergency landing at the hamlet of Colva, in what is now Powys, due to low-grade castor oil in his engine. Having waited there for his mechanic, he took off again and landed in Wexford five days later. Allen, meanwhile, was seen crossing at Holyhead — and then never seen again. Forty years earlier the country diarist Francis Kilvert visited Colva on a stroll. Along the drover's road he carried a dozen biscuits, two apples, a flask of wine and opera glasses, and reached a ''poor humble dear little whitewashed church sequestered among its ancient yews'. We ride the same road to find the historian Joe Kerr (he's heard all the gags) outside St David's: still dear, still with its yews. 'It's 13th century but by tradition was founded by the great saint himself. The church at Glascwm was and that's six miles away,' Kerr says. St David's probably replaced an earlier Celtic church, he adds. 'This feels like a place used for centuries.' • 11 of the best cycling routes in the UK For we have crossed into Wales and the land crackles with Celtic magic. In St Peter's Church at Bryngwyn, three miles south, there are kneelers embroidered with otters and plough horses, and a prehistoric standing stone roughly carved with crosses. Birds sing a hosannah outside. We travel onwards via lanes that tie themselves into knots and then we hop over the River Arrow on bridges seemingly out of Postman Pat. One slips us back into England on a track to a farmyard where a cockerel flees into a hay barn. A door in a red-brick wall opens into paradise: a hammock swings in a small orchard, swallows swoop and chitter, the Wye Valley unrolls a lush carpet to bosky slopes. Corisande Albert and her husband, Angus Grahame, appear with glasses of chilled pear cider. With their Cabalva perry estate, the farming-pottery couple hope to rehabilitate a once-popular drink. Perry farmers perfected the champagne method when fizz was just a twinkle in Dom Pérignon's eye, according to Grahame. 'Every farm once had a little orchard for perry,' he says. 'We're trying to make it approachable again.' I can't see why it isn't already. Dangerously quaffable, half the strength of wine, it's an ideal summer aperitif, which only goes to show how insouciant we can be about our heritage. Maybe it's the booze and the delicious lunch eaten outside off Albert's plates. Perhaps it's just the view. Either way, this feels as close to the good life as it gets in Britain. • 13 of the most luxurious places to stay in Herefordshire Gio spoils it rather with talk of 'Kill Pitch'. Its steep hill arrives beyond Hay-on-Wye (bunting, books and a queue outside Shepherds Ice Cream parlour). As the incline steepens I flick to the ebike's highest power and cruise uphill. Literally no sweat. I sit on the terrace of a spacious safari tent at Drovers Rest drinking a rehydration beer I don't truly deserve. The next day is May Day. In the half-light of dawn some of us pedal to Arthur's Stone, a neolithic tomb on the valley summit. A ragtag band have beaten us to it. Morris dancers jingle and clack, and a man in a costume of green ribbons like leaves pipes the sun's rise. Scratch the topsoil of Merrie England hereabouts and a seam of pagan tradition lies beneath. Who's to say they're wrong? When we return later that morning the Golden Valley glows in morning light and the Skirrid, aka the Holy Mountain, is an enigmatic pyramid above hills. It's scenery to bring out the mystic in anyone. The rest of that day is one of images. Hillsides festive with white apple blossom. Silver-green willows trailing in the Wye during a dip at Bredwardine. Among the wonky black and white houses of Weobley village square are two old boys in braces. They lean on a muddy SUV to discuss a friend's apple-growing in accents you could chew on: 'It's like a ewe and a lamb, see? The one always knows the other.' We process into Pembridge, then slip behind the 17th-century New Inn and into a handsome cobbled square. A picnic bench has been laid with a white tablecloth, fine tableware, a tureen of soup and a platter of venison pâté and sourdough bread. Lunch has arrived before us. To be honest, I'm reluctant to tell you about any of this. So many of the qualities we seek from foreign travel are outside the back door in Herefordshire — not just obvious things, like fresh air and views, but proud regional cuisines and a sense of lives well lived in harmony with timeless landscapes. Too many of us are too quick to ignore at home what we would eulogise about abroad. Who'd have guessed all it took to find them was a bike? Millions of visitors a year come to find something similar in the Cotswolds. Fortunately Herefordshire is rubbish at providing coach Stewart was a guest of White Heron, which has three nights' half-board from £750pp, including ebike hire and luggage transfer ( Next public trip June 10-13 and September 23-26; private trips can be arranged
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Would you wear this to a wedding? Brittany Hockley steals the spotlight and risks a wardrobe malfunction in a daring red dress slit to the crotch at friend's nuptials in Italy
Brittany Hockley stole the spotlight as she attended a friend's wedding in a daring red dress over the weekend. The Aussie radio host took to Instagram on Sunday to share several happy snaps from singer Steffani Milan and footballer Moritz Jenz's nuptials, which were held in Tuscany, Italy. The 37-year-old almost risked a major wardrobe malfunction in a figure-hugging scarlet dress featuring a very risque split at the thigh. The frock, which boasted a high neckline and long sleeves, was slashed all the way to the crotch, showing off the former Bachelor star's long, trim pins. She wore her hair in a slicked back bun and donned dainty gold and diamond jewellery, letting her eye-catching dress take centre stage. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'Celebrating love, with my love, in the beautiful Tuscan sun,' she captioned the post, which was fronted with a loved-up snap of her and her Swiss footballer fiancé Benjamin Siegrist. The couple's upcoming nuptials, which will be held in Bali, have been the talk of the town of late, especially considering the notable absences from their wedding invitations. Sources close to the pair reveal that several of Brittany's fellow I'm A Celebrity 2024 'campmates' including Skye Wheatley, Callum Hole, and Denise Drysdale did not make the cut. Despite the show's portrayal of a tight-knit group, insiders suggest that behind the scenes, not all relationships were as harmonious. 'The show presents a united front, but the reality is, not everyone clicked,' a source revealed. 'Brittany has chosen to keep her wedding intimate, inviting those she's closest to,' the insider said. Adding to the intrigue, Brittany recently shared a lighthearted anecdote about her wedding invitations causing confusion among guests due to Aussie slang. On her Life Uncut podcast, she recounted how the phrase 'no thongs' led to some hilarious misunderstandings among international invitees. Sources close to the pair reveal that several of Brittany's fellow I'm A Celebrity 2024 'campmates' including Skye Wheatley, Callum Hole, and Denise Drysdale did not make the cut As the big day approaches, all eyes will be on the guest list and the potential for any surprise appearances or notable absences. Brittany announced her engagement to Ben, 32, earlier this year. Brittany, who formerly described herself as 'the perpetually single host', had been dating Ben long-distance for eight months when he popped the question. In her post, Brittany expressed her love for her new fiancé, writing: 'In any lifetime it's a YES! Just two people loving each other for the rest of our lives.'
