Simon-Yates.com

Simon Yates was born in Bury, England in 1992. He and his twin brother Adam, who is also an international cyclist, were introduced to the sport by their parents at an early age. The cycling gene most likely came from his dad John who enjoyed success on the bike at club level and also ran competitively for local athletics team Horwich RMI Harriers. Simon's first taste of competitive cycling came aged nine when he recalls visiting the National cycling centre in nearby Manchester and being fascinated by the spectacle. Shortly afterwards he joined Eastlands Velo - the club whose former members include triple Olympic champion, Jason Kenny.

Simon excelled at underage level, collecting a cluster of club titles at Bury Clarion. He became a member of the endurance academy programme at British Cycling and won a Junior Track World Championship in 2010, where he teamed up with Dan McLay in the madison. He also competed for England at the Commonwealth Games that same year. In 2011 he quickly gained a reputation as a talented rider with a string of impressive results, including a stage victory at the Tour de l'Avenir, a race known as the 'baby Tour de France'. He continued to progress in 2012, adding the Senior British madison title to his growing CV.

Despite his success, Simon still remained largely unknown to many in wider cycling circles, however this would quickly change in 2013. He shot to prominence in February winning gold at the Track World Championships, becoming Britain’s first Points race world champion since Chris Newton (his current coach) in 2002. Strong performances on the road followed, including back to back stage victories at the Tour de l'Avenir before capping off his season in style with a stage victory at the Tour of Britain.

In 2014, Simon joined UCI World Tour team Orica Green-EDGE and made an immediate impression for the Australian team with a decent showing at Paris-Nice. However a month later he broke his collarbone in a crash at the Tour of Turkey (won by twin brother Adam) and spent some time out of the saddle. He returned to action at the Tour of Slovenia, finishing 7th in the Overall GC and winning the best young riders classification. In June, Simon podiumed in the National Championship road race before making his Grand Tour debut in the Tour de France. With the race beginning in the UK, it was an incredible experience for Simon to ride in the biggest race of the season in front of home fans. He was in impressive form too, earning many plaudits for his attacking prowess against some of the best riders in the world.

Over the last couple of seasons, Simon has continued to develop as a stage race rider. In 2015, a top 5 finish in the Dauphine was followed by a second appearance in as many seasons at the Tour de France. He earned many plaudits with a number of impressive rides on the mountain stages that resulted in a couple of Top 10 finishes. Last season, Simon won his first Grand Tour stage at the Vuelta a Espana and continued his strong form over the three week race to secure 6th position in the Overall GC.

In 2017, Simon enjoyed multiple victories which included stage wins in Paris-Nice and the Tour de Romandie, alongside victory at the Gran Premo Miguel Indurain. However the highlight came at the Tour de France where he took the young rider’s white jersey on the first summit finish and held it all the way to Paris. A month later Simon lined up at the Vuelta a Espana, tackling a second Grand Tour in one season for the first time in his career. With a strengthened Mitchelton-Scott squad heading into 2018, Simon will be hoping that his recent success is merely a stepping stone to bigger goals ahead.

Simon enjoyed the best season of his career to date in 2018, winning stages at Paris-Nice and Catalunya en route to an impressive showing at the Giro d'Italia. He won 3 stages and wore the leader's 'maglia rosa' jersey for 13 days, unfortuantely sacrificing the lead to Chris Froome in the latter stages of the race. The highlight of the year came in September when Simon won his maiden Grand Tour in impressive fashion at the Vuelta a Espana. Over the coming seasons, Simon will continue to focus on leading Mitchelton-SCOTT in stage races where he hopes to build on the success of last season.