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Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Yates wins Giro d'Italia for second Grand Tour title
Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 21 - Rome to Rome - Italy - June 1, 2025 General view of cyclists in action as the Palatine Hill is pictured in the background REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 21 - Rome to Rome - Italy - June 1, 2025 Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Olav Kooij celebrates as he crossed the line to win the stage 21 REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 21 - Rome to Rome - Italy - June 1, 2025 Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Simon Yates celebrates after crossing the line to win the Giro d'Italia REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini 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 teammate Olav Kooij in a sprint finish. Yates, riding in all pink on a pink bike, also became the first rider since Alberto Contador in 2015 to win the Giro without claiming victory on any of the stages. His victory added to his 2018 Vuelta a Espana title. "Honestly, it's still sinking in. What a huge moment in my career... I couldn't be prouder of the whole team over three weeks," said Yates, the Giro's 12th different winner in as many editions. "It's been good that we had the possibility to win the last stage with Olav. So we kept focused till the end. It's a defining moment of my career, there's no doubt about that. It's a sweet success." Having raced for more than 82 hours, Yates eventually finished three minutes and 56 seconds ahead of Del Toro while Richard Carapaz was third, a further 47 seconds behind. Yates, 32, famously lost the title in 2018 on the Colle delle Finestre climb but this year he closed that painful chapter on the same slopes by taking the pink jersey with Saturday's stunning attack in the mountains. After a 3,300-km journey through Italy, Albania and Slovenia, the final stage was a 143-km ride starting and finishing in Rome, including eight laps of a 9.5 km long circuit. POPE'S BLESSINGS The riders also had time to meet Pope Leo, who was gifted a pink jersey before they left Vatican City and rode into Rome. "I hope that, just as you have learned to take care of your bodies, you will also take care of your spirits," the pope told the riders. With the final stage underway, a relaxed Yates was all smiles as he cycled next to his twin brother Adam, putting his arm around the UAE Team Emirates rider. As the riders cycled past Rome's landmarks like the Colosseum, a six-man breakaway went 24 seconds ahead of the pink jersey group with less than 50 km to go. But with one lap left, only Josef Cerny and Enzo Paleni were left in the lead. Cerny then dropped Paleni to attempt a solo ride to the finish but he was quickly reeled in with six kilometres left. Visma-Lease a Bike wanted the perfect finish 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 left in the legs," Kooij said after his victory sealed a third stage win for the team this year. Kooij finished ahead of Kaden Groves and Matteo Moschetti as Visma-Lease a Bike became the first team in 26 years to win both the general classification and the final stage. "When the ketchup bottle is almost empty... keep shaking, shaking, shaking," Van Aert said. "Then at some point everything comes out at once, that's what happened." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Yates wins Giro d'Italia title for second Grand Tour victory
Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 21 - Rome to Rome - Italy - June 1, 2025 General view of cyclists in action as the Palatine Hill is pictured in the background REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 21 - Rome to Rome - Italy - June 1, 2025 Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Olav Kooij celebrates as he crossed the line to win the stage 21 REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 21 - Rome to Rome - Italy - June 1, 2025 Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Simon Yates celebrates after crossing the line to win the Giro d'Italia REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini 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 teammate Olav Kooij in a sprint finish. Yates, riding in all pink on a pink bike, also became the first rider since Alberto Contador in 2015 to win the Giro without claiming victory on any of the stages. After riding 3,300 km through Italy, Albania and Slovenia, the final stage was a 143 km ride starting and finishing in Rome, including eight laps of a 9.5 km long circuit in the Eternal City. As the riders cycled past Rome's landmarks like the Colosseum, a six-man breakaway went 24 seconds ahead of the pink jersey group with less than 50 km to go. But by the time they had one lap left, four riders were dropped, with only Josef Cerny and Enzo Paleni left in the lead. Cerny then dropped Paleni to attempt a solo ride to the finish but he was quickly reeled in with six kilometres left. Visma-Lease a Bike wanted the perfect finish 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. Kooij finished ahead of Kaden Groves and Matteo Moschetti. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Cycling-Yates wins Giro d'Italia title for second Grand Tour victory
Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 21 - Rome to Rome - Italy - June 1, 2025 Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Simon Yates celebrates after crossing the line to win the Giro d'Italia REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
The Star
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Cycling-Yates snatches pink jersey from Del Toro on penultimate Giro stage
Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 20 - Verres to Sestriere - Italy - May 31, 2025 Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Simon Yates after crossing the finish line during stage 20 REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini (Reuters) -Simon Yates rode a stage for the ages when he stormed into the overall lead of the Giro d'Italia on Saturday when the Visma-Lease a Bike rider erased overall leader Isaac Del Toro's lead to take the pink jersey on the penultimate stage of the race. The stage was won by Australian Chris Harper of Jayco-AlUla, who rode solo to the finish while Alessandro Verre was second, but all eyes were on Yates as he finished third to flip the general classification battle and take the overall lead. On the 205 km ride from Verres to Sestriere where riders gained 4,500 metres in altitude in total, it was Richard Carapaz or Yates who had to make a move if they were to take the pink jersey from Del Toro. Ultimately, it was Yates who put in a series of attacks in a bid to reel in Del Toro, who held an 81-second lead at the start of the stage. In 2018, Yates saw his dreams of winning the Giro crumble on the Colle delle Finestre climb when Chris Froome's attack left him far behind. But this time he redeemed himself on the same climb to take the lead and Del Toro did not respond even as the cavalry arrived in the form of Wout van Aert, who helped Yates power to the finish. Ultimately, Del Toro knew he had lost his chance and the 21-year-old eventually crossed the line more than five minutes behind Yates. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Kooij outsprints Van Uden to win Giro stage 12, Del Toro retains pink jersey
Cycling - Giro d'Italia - Stage 12 - Modena to Viadana - Italy - May 22, 2025 Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Olav Kooij crosses the finish line to win stage 12 REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini Dutchman Olav Kooij came out on top in a sprint finish to win stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia on Thursday, overtaking compatriot Casper van Uden before the line, with Mexico's Isaac del Toro keeping a firm grip on the overall lead. Kooij was led out by his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Wout van Aert, but Van Uden, who beat Kooij into second place to win stage four, took the lead before Kooij battled to victory. "It's really nice to see Olav finishing it off after a really good lead out, I have to say," Van Aert said. "We used our horsepower and he has the kick." Briton Ben Turner (INEOS Grenadiers) came in third, ahead of one-time race leader Mads Pedersen, who won three of the opening five stages. Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) earned two seconds on the last intermediate sprint of the stage and has a 33-second lead over teammate Juan Ayuso of Spain with Italian Antonio Tiberi of Bahrain Victorious over one minute behind in third. The 172 km ride from Modena to Viadana was expected to bring the sprinters back to the fore, and after an early breakaway of three riders was reeled in by the peloton, the final 25 km was a tactical game as teams looked to set their sprinters up. Van Aert, who won stage nine, opted for an early lead out before the final dangerous corner, with Kooij on his back wheel. Van Uden went past and Kooij had to wait to find room to attack but had the finish to overtake and take victory. "Only Wout can do such a long lead out like today's," Kooij said. "I got an extraordinary support. I have to thank my teammates, also the rest of the team did a fantastic job." Friday's stage 13 will take the riders 180km from Rovigo to Vicenza. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
