'Completely different to the plan' - Simon Yates frustrated by Visma tactics on stage 19 of Giro d'Italia

Simon Yates expressed a degree of frustration with his Visma | Lease a Bike team’s display on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, telling reporters that it had been “completely different” to their tactical plan beforehand.

The Briton remains in third place overall with two days remaining, but he conceded 24 seconds to race leader race leader Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) after they forged clear in the finale. Yates is now 1:21 behind Del Toro.

“I feel good, but those two guys in front of me [Carapaz and del Toro] are a bit too explosive and, yeah, I can’t follow them when they explode,” Yates told reporters at the finish line in Champoluc. “So let’s see if we can come up with something else.”

When asked about what the team’s plan had been, Yates was frank with his response. “Completely different to what we did,” he said. “So I’ll have to review that with the team.” 

There were not as many attacks as most would have expected on this demanding stage, but it was evident that nearly three weeks of racing are taking a toll on the riders. Visma | Lease a Bike directeur sportif Marc Reef saw things differently to Yates, suggesting that his team had raced largely as planned. “We wanted to make it tough, and the guys did a good job,” he said. “In the end it was about having the legs, but Del Toro and Carapaz were a bit stronger.”

In any case, there was a sense that riders were trying to hold something in reserve with Saturday’s final mountain stage in mind. The key feature of stage 20 is the brutal Colle delle Finestre, an 18.5km climb with an average gradient of 9.2% and ramps of 14%. 

Crucially, half of the climb is on gravel, and this was something Yates spoke about when asked if he would have an advantage on the climb. “Uh, I don’t know. It’s also gravel halfway, so I prefer not to do that either, but we will see how the legs are.”

There will be extra motivation for Yates on the stage beyond fighting for the win, given that the Colle delle Finestre was the site of his implosion on the 2018 Giro d’Italia. Yates had been imperious throughout that edition, carrying the pink jersey from stage six, taking three wins in the pink jersey.  

However, Yates cracked hard on the lower slopes of the Finestre and lost 38 minutes and 51 seconds on the day to stage winner Chris Froome, who attacked on the climb and flipped the GC script upside down in one of the most memorable Grand Tour stages in modern history.

“[The legs] they were good today, so hopefully the same tomorrow and then I can try something,” said Yates. 

Del Toro leads the Giro by 43 seconds from Carapaz, with Yates in third place with a buffer of 1:06 seconds over the closest threat to his podium spot, Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech).