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.jpg) Yates, Stage 15,Tour de France, 2024. | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Simon Philip Yates | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1992-08-07)7 August 1992 (age 33)[1] Bury, Greater Manchester, England | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft7+1⁄2 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 59 kg (130 lb; 9 st 4 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||
| Current team | Visma–Lease a Bike | ||||||||||||||
| Disciplines |
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| Role | Rider (retired) | ||||||||||||||
| Rider type | Climber All-rounder (road)[2] Endurance (track) | ||||||||||||||
| Amateur team | |||||||||||||||
| 2013 | 100% me[3] | ||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | |||||||||||||||
| 2014–2024 | Orica–GreenEDGE[4][5][6] | ||||||||||||||
| 2025–2026 | Visma–Lease a Bike | ||||||||||||||
| Major wins | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Simon Philip Yates (born 7 August 1992) is a retired British professionalroad andtrack racing cyclist who last rode forUCI WorldTeamVisma–Lease a Bike.[7][8] His twin brother isAdam Yates, who is also a professional cyclist. He won the gold medal in thepoints race at the2013 Track Cycling World Championships. Following adoping ban in 2016, he won theyoung rider classification in the2017 Tour de France and thegeneral classification in the2018 Vuelta a España and2025 Giro d'Italia. Yates has taken more than thirty professional victories, including elevenGrand Tour stage victories – six at theGiro d'Italia, three at theTour de France and two at theVuelta a España. Yates has been a resident ofAndorra since 2015.[9][10]
Yates grew up inBury inGreater Manchester. He attendedDerby High School andBury College.[11]
The brothers took up cycling after their father John was injured in a collision with a car while riding. During John's recovery he took the twins toManchester Velodrome to track sessions run by his cycling club, Bury Clarion,[12] to keep in touch with the other members. Both brothers soon started riding on the road forBury Clarion[13][14] and on the track for Eastlands Velo.
At the age of 18, Yates was selected byBritish Cycling for its Olympic Academy programme. He was also selected for the England team for the2010 Commonwealth Games inDelhi, where his room-mate wasChris Froome.[15]
He won the gold medal in thepoints race at the2013 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.[16]
Yates made his breakthrough on the road in 2013 riding for the British national team. Along with brother Adam, he competed at the 2013Tour de l'Avenir for the Great Britain national team, where Simon won the race's fifth stage, ahead of Adam.[17] Simon added another stage victory the following day,[18] and finished the race tenth overall.
He was then selected as part of the British national team to take part in theTour of Britain. He competed well throughout the race and on stage six he took his biggest win to that point, on the summit finish atHaytor, sprinting clear of a nine-man group, which includedBradley Wiggins andNairo Quintana.[19][20] Yates finished third overall in the race, and was the best rider in the under-23 classification.[21]
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Yates along with his brother joined the AustralianUCI World Tour teamOrica–GreenEDGE in 2014.[22] He finished 12th overall in one of his first World Tour races, theTour of the Basque Country. Yates suffered a broken collarbone on Stage 3 of theTour of Turkey.[23] He recovered to take seventh overall and the young rider classification in theTour of Slovenia in June. He was a surprise selection for the Orica–GreenEDGE team for the2014 Tour de France, with only 5 days' notice, and was one of only 4 British riders to take to the Grand Départ startline inLeeds.[24] Yates featured in two breakaways during his Grand Tour debut, before being withdrawn by his team on the second rest day.[25]
In April 2015 Yates finished fifth overall in theTour of the Basque Country.[26] Later that month he rode theTour de Romandie and placed sixth overall. In June, Yates finished fifth overall in theCritérium du Dauphiné after finishing second behindChris Froome on the final stage, a summit finish atModane. By doing so Yates also won the white jersey as best young rider.[27]
He was again selected for theTour de France, this time alongside his brother Adam.[28] Simon placed eighth on Stage 3, which finished on theMur de Huy, and eleventh on Stage 20, the queen stage of the race finishing onAlpe d'Huez.[29]
In March, Yates finished seventh overall atParis–Nice, however, in April it emerged that Yates had tested positive for the banned substanceterbutaline in an in-competition test during the race.[30] Yates was disqualified from the race and served a four-month doping ban during 2016; his team took full responsibility for this blaming an "administrative error". The ban meant Yates missed theTour de France, where his brother Adam finished fourth overall and won theyoung rider classification.
Following the expiry of his doping suspension, he was named in the startlist for theVuelta a España.[31] In stage 6 Yates, seeing an opportunity, escaped from a breakaway group to win a solo stage victory – the first of the Yates brothers to take a Grand Tour stage victory.
2017 saw Yates collect stage wins at two prestigious stage races,Paris–Nice and theTour de Romandie. He placed second at the latter, his highest finish in aUCI World Tour stage-race at the time.[32] He finished 7th overall at theTour de France and won the young rider classification, matching the feat achieved by his twin brother a year prior.
Yates confirmed his and the team's plans for him participating in theGiro d'Italia and theVuelta a España.[33] In March, Yates won Stage 7 of theParis–Nice, a mountain top finish toValdeblore La Colmiane, to take the overall race lead going into the final stage. However,Marc Soler of theMovistar Team, who started 37 seconds down on Yates in sixth place overall, attacked around halfway into the stage along with compatriotDavid de la Cruz (Team Sky); the duo joinedOmar Fraile (Astana) at the head of the race, and the trio managed to stay clear of the rest of the field by the time they reachedNice. As de la Cruz and Fraile contested stage honours, Soler finished third – acquiring four bonus seconds on the finish in addition to three gained at an earlier intermediate sprint – and with a 35-second gap to Yates and the remaining general classification contenders, it was enough to give Soler victory over Yates by four seconds.[34] Later that month, Yates won stage 7 of theVolta a Catalunya after attacking multiple times on the 6.6-kilometre (4.1-mile)-long final circuit through theMontjuïc Park; he finished fourth overall.[35]
Yates entered the Giro d'Italia as joint leader ofMitchelton–Scott withEsteban Chaves, supported by a strong climbing focused team includingRoman Kreuziger,Mikel Nieve andJack Haig.[36] Yates placed seventh in the opening 9.7-kilometre (6.0-mile) individual time trial inJerusalem, 20 seconds down on defending race winnerTom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb).[37] On Stage 6 toMount Etna, Yates took the race lead after finishing second behind teammate Chaves; Yates attacked from the group of favourites 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) from the summit and caught Chaves, who had been part of the day's breakaway, in sight of the line, but allowed Chaves to take the stage honours.[38] The result meant Yates held theMaglia rosa over Dumoulin in second, and Chaves in third place. Yates won stage 9 after accelerating away with 100 metres (330 feet) to go on the summit finish toGran Sasso d'Italia, extending his lead over Chaves and Dumoulin.[39] Yates extended his lead further on Stage 10, but teammate Chaves lost 25 minutes after being dropped on the first climb.[40] Yates claimed his second stage victory on Stage 11, attacking with 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) to go and holding off the pursuit of Dumoulin to win on a hill top finish inOsimo, increasing his lead.[41]
On Stage 14, Yates finished second behindChris Froome (Team Sky) onMonte Zoncolan. With six bonus seconds for finishing second, Yates extended his overall advantage over Dumoulin, whilst his gap over Froome was 3 minutes, 10 seconds.[42] Yates pedaled to a solo win on stage 15 toSappada, attacking with 18 kilometres (11 miles) remaining, increasing his lead over Dumoulin.[43] After holding his lead through the 34.2-kilometre (21.3-mile) individual time trial held as stage 17,[44] Yates cracked on the final climb toPrato Nevoso on stage 18, losing 28 seconds to all of his other general classification rivals.[45] Stage 19 had been classified as the 'queen stage' of the race, with three focussed climbs in the latter half of the stage: the half paved-half gravel climb of theColle delle Finestre, followed by the climb toSestriere and the final uphill finish toBardonecchia. Yates cracked on the lower slopes of the Finestre, before Froome launched a solo attack with 80 kilometres (50 miles) left of the stage. Froome's advantage grew throughout the second half of the stage, culminating in him taking a stage victory of more than three minutes and thereby also taking the overall race lead, 40 seconds ahead of Dumoulin.[46] Yates lost over 38 minutes to Froome and dropped to 17th overall.[47] He eventually finished the race 21st overall, 1 hour and 15 minutes behind the winner Froome.[48]
After the Giro, Yates made his return to racing at thePrueba Villafranca de Ordizia, where he finished second behind team-mateRobert Power. He subsequently returned to WorldTour competition at theTour de Pologne in August, where he won the race's closing stage with a solo attack and finished second overall behindMichał Kwiatkowski.[49] Yates was Mitchelton–Scott's team leader for theVuelta a España, with support from his brother.[49] Yates moved into third place on the general classification after stage 4, the first mountain stage, ten seconds behind leader Kwiatkowski. On the ninth stage, Yates took the leader's red jersey fromRudy Molard going into the first rest day.[50] However he lost the lead on stage 12, when Mitchelton–Scott elected not to close down a large breakaway, with the red jersey being taken byJesús Herrada with Yates in second andAlejandro Valverde in third.[51] The following day, Yates cut nearly two minutes from Herrada's lead,[52] and he then took victory on the fourteenth stage, reclaiming the overall lead. He extended his lead during stages 16 (an individual time trial) and 19,[50] and on the last mountain stage, Yates attacked his rivals on the penultimate climb, joiningMiguel Ángel López andNairo Quintana alongsideEnric Mas at the head of the race. He eventually finishing third on the stage behind Mas and López, who moved up into second and third overall after Valverde andSteven Kruijswijk lost significant time.[53] He went on to safely cross the finish line inMadrid to secure his overall victory.[54]
Yates previously considered time-trialling to be a weakness,[55] and slowly improved since his junior years.[56] He had improved in 2019, with his first win in the discipline coming on a hilly course atParis–Nice.[57][58] Yates returned to theGiro d'Italia aiming for thegeneral classification. He entered the race, publicly stating that he considered himself as "the number one favourite" for the race.[59] He finished second on the openingindividual time trial stage inBologna, behind onlyPrimož Roglič.[60] However, he was unable to repeat this result in the second individual time trial, on stage nine, where he lost more than three minutes, dropping to 24th overall. He lost further time on stage 13 up toSerrù Lake, and despite a second-place finish on stage 19, he finished 8th overall and described it as "heartbreaking".[61]
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He rode theTour de France, in support of his brother's general classification ambition, but Simon was allowed a day offdomestique duty, and won stage 12 intoBagnères-de-Bigorre in a 3 up sprint againstPello Bilbao andGregor Mühlberger.[62] Unfortunately for Adam, his general classification hopes faded after losing time on the individual time-trial and the climb toCol du Tourmalet.[63] These general classification losses freed up Simon as the team refocused on stage wins,[64] and he added another mountain stage win after a solo attack on stage 15,[65] taking Mitchelton–Scott's tally to 3 before the second rest day.[66]
Yates started his season in Australia,[67] and took top-ten finishes at theTour Down Under (seventh) and theCadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (tenth),[68][69] before racing was suspended due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Following the suspension, Yates extended his contract withMitchelton–Scott until the end of the 2022 season,[70] and he finished third at August'sTour de Pologne,[71] before becoming the first British winner ofTirreno–Adriatico the following month – beatingGeraint Thomas in a British 1–2.[72] He had taken the race lead following a stage win on stage five.[73] He rode theGiro d'Italia in October but had to abandon the race before the start of stage 8, after he tested positive forCOVID-19.[74]
Yates started his season with top-ten overall finishes atTirreno–Adriatico (tenth),[75] and theVolta a Catalunya (ninth),[76] before his first wins came at April'sTour of the Alps. He won the second stage in Austria, having attacked with 24 kilometres (15 miles) remaining,[77] and soloed to victory by 41 seconds ahead of his next closest rival. Having assumed the leader's jersey, Yates maintained the lead to the end of the race, finishing almost a minute clear ofPello Bilbao for his third stage race victory.[78][79] At theGiro d'Italia, Yates ran as high as second overall during the race, but ultimately finished in third place – having been the favourite for the race[80] – more than four minutes down on winnerEgan Bernal.[81] Yates took his fourth stage victory at the race, when he won stage 19 atop theAlpe di Mera, following a 5-kilometre (3.1-mile) solo move.[82] He failed to finish theTour de France later in the year,[83] but he did win the mountains classification at theCRO Race on his way to fourth overall.[84]
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Yates made his first start of the year at February'sVuelta a Andalucía, where he finished fifth overall.[85] The following month, Yates finished in second place atParis–Nice for the second time in his career; he moved up to second overall following the fifth stage,[86] and maintained this position for the remainder of the race, despite his attempts to overhaulPrimož Roglič during his stage-winning attack on the final stage intoNice.[87] He won two stages and the points classification at theVuelta a Asturias the week before theGiro d'Italia started.[88][89] At the Giro d'Italia, Yates won the second stageindividual time trial inBudapest, moving up to second overall behindMathieu van der Poel.[90] He remained in the top-five placings until the ninth stage, losing more than eleven minutes on the final climb to Blockhaus.[91] He added a second stage win on stage fourteen inTurin,[92] but withdrew from the race in the final week.[93]
In July, Yates extended his contract withTeam BikeExchange–Jayco until the end of the 2024 season.[94] He then started a Spanish block of racing with a victory in thePrueba Villafranca de Ordizia one-day race, having gone clear of the peloton with 11.5 kilometres (7.1 miles) remaining.[95] A few days later, Yates won theVuelta a Castilla y León stage race, having won the second and final stage from a 27-kilometre (17-mile) solo attack.[96] He rode theVuelta a España for the first time since his victory in2018,[97] but withdrew from the race while in fifth place overall, due to a positive test forCOVID-19.[98]
With theTour Down Under being held for the first time since2020, Yates started his season in Australia,[99] where he finished in second overall behindJay Vine, and won the final stage in a two-up sprint with Vine atopMount Lofty.[100] He then recorded finishes of fourth atParis–Nice and ninth at theTour of the Basque Country, before withdrawing from theTour de Romandie due to a stomach problem.[101] He would not race again prior to theTour de France – missing theGiro d'Italia, having competed in its previous five editions.[102]
The opening stage of the Tour de France, held in and aroundBilbao, sawAdam Yates attack on the descent from the Pike Bidea climb, where he was followed by his brother – with them working together over the closing kilometres.[103] Adam Yates pulled clear in the closing 350 metres (1,150 feet) to take the stage victory by four seconds, as they became the third set of brothers to finish 1–2 on a Tour de France stage, after the Pélissiers (Francis andHenri) and the Schlecks (Andy andFränk).[104] Yates remained in the top-ten placings in the general classification throughout the race, dropping no lower than eighth,[105] but was unable to win a stage, adding a further second-place stage finish on stage seventeen – an Alpine stage with more than 5,000 metres (16,000 feet) of climbing that Yates described as "wicked".[106] He ultimately finished the race in 4th overall, having overturned an 18-second deficit toCarlos Rodríguez before the penultimate stage into a 34-second advantage,[107] missing out on the final podium spot by almost 90 seconds – to brother Adam.[108]
In the autumn, he took four top-six race results at theGrand Prix Cycliste de Montréal (sixth),[109] theMemorial Marco Pantani (fourth),[110] theGiro dell'Emilia (third),[111] andIl Lombardia (fifth),[112] but no further victories.
Yates joinedVisma–Lease a Bike in 2025, signing a contract for two years.[113]
On the penultimate stage of2025 Giro d'Italia, third placed Yates grabbed thepink jersey by overturning a 1:21 minute deficit onUAE Team Emirates XRG'sIsaac del Toro. Yates attacked 13 kilometres from the summit of theColle delle Finestre and, helped by team mate andsuper-domestiqueWout van Aert, he gained time on both del Toro andRichard Carapaz, placed first and second before the start respectively.[114] In Rome, he clinched his second Grand Tour win by riding out the final day with his team-mateOlav Kooij winning thebunch sprint.[115]
On 7 January 2026 Yates announced his immediate retirement.[116]
In April 2016 it emerged that Yates had tested positive for the banned substanceterbutaline in an in-competition test duringParis–Nice the previous month,[30] where he finished seventh overall.[117]Orica–GreenEDGE's ownerGerry Ryan accusedBritish Cycling of leaking the news of Yates's failed drug test to the press, and criticised the organisation for doing so.[118] In a statement, Orica–GreenEDGE claimed full responsibility for the test result, saying that the team's doctor had failed to apply for a therapeutic use exemption for an asthma inhaler used by Yates which triggered the positive test.[30] Subsequently, the international governing bodyUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI) issued a statement indicating that Yates would not be provisionally suspended from competition due to the substance he had tested positive for.[119] However, on 17 June, the UCI decided to issue a four-month ban for the "presence and use of the specified prohibited substance terbutaline",[120] backdated from 12 March (the date the positive sample was collected), preventing Yates from competing at the2016 Tour de France.[121]
Source:[122]
Road race, National Under-23 Championships
Overall Arden Challenge
Young rider classification
Mountains classification,Tour of Alberta Young rider classification Young rider classification
OverallVuelta a EspañaCombination classification
after Stages 6–18
after Stages 9–18
Mountains classification OverallTirreno–Adriatico
OverallTour of the Alps Mountains classification
OverallVuelta a Castilla y León Points classification
OverallAlUla Tour OverallGiro d'Italia| Grand Tour general classification results | ||||||||||||
| Grand Tour | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | 21 | 8 | DNF | 3 | DNF | — | — | 1 |
| Tour de France | DNF | 89 | — | 7 | — | 49 | — | DNF | — | 4 | 12 | 15 |
| Vuelta a España | — | — | 6 | 44 | 1 | — | — | — | DNF | — | — | — |
| Major stage race general classification results | ||||||||||||
| Major stage race | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
 Paris–Nice | 44 | 29 | DSQ | 9 | 2 | 25 | — | — | 2 | 4 | — | — |
| Tirreno–Adriatico | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 10 | — | — | — | 14 |
 Volta a Catalunya | — | — | — | — | 4 | 13 | NH | 9 | DNF | — | 57 | 9 |
| Tour of the Basque Country | 11 | 5 | DNF | 22 | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | — | |
| Tour de Romandie | — | 6 | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | DNF | 11 | — | |
 Critérium du Dauphiné | — | 5 | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de Suisse | Did not contest during his career | |||||||||||
| Monument | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | — | 37 | 95 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour of Flanders | Did not contest during his career | |||||||||||
| Paris–Roubaix | ||||||||||||
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | 39 | — | 153 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 32 | — |
| Giro di Lombardia | DNF | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | 86 | — | 5 | 84 | — |
| Classic | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Strade Bianche | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 63 | — | — | — | — |
| La Flèche Wallonne | 78 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | DNF | 14 | 7 | 18 | — | DNF | NH | 22 | 6 | — | DNF | — |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | 22 | 82 | — | — | — | — | Not held | — | 56 | 54 | DNF | |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | 36 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | 13 | DNF | ||
| Giro dell'Emilia | — | — | DNF | — | DNF | — | — | — | DNF | 3 | 5 | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| DSQ | Disqualified |
| NH | Not held |
Madison (withDaniel McLay)
Team pursuitMadison (withAdam Yates)Madison (withMark Christian)OmniumTeam pursuitThe Briton's vicious attack with 1,500 metres remaining saw him put 26 seconds into Chris Froome (Sky), Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) et al., but he granted the stage win to Chaves at the summit.
His last race was the Tour de Romandie in April, but he had to withdraw after stage one due to stomach problems. Before that, Yates came fourth in Paris-Nice and ninth in the Itzulia Basque Country.
Yates, who skipped the Giro d'Italia for the first time in six years to focus on the Tour, is looking forward to the hilly start in the Basque Country.
Simon Yates' time gain lifted him past Rodriguez into fourth overall, the Briton is now 34 seconds ahead of the young Spaniard before the ride into Paris and the final sprint on the Champs Elysées.
Britain's Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) came in fifth.
