Giro d'Italia time trial 'a bit of a stinker' for Simon Yates
Simon Yates' chances of winning the Giro d'Italia took a serious blow on Sunday when the Mitchelton-Scott rider suffered a considerably larger than expected time loss on leading favourite Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).
Mitchelton-Scott management had estimated that Yates' time loss could be between 30 and 40 seconds on Roglič on the demanding 34-kilometre time trial to San Marino, with the expectation he would be at a disadvantage on the flatter first section then limit the gaps on the second category climb to the finish.
Instead, the opposite occurred, with Yates ceding just 48 seconds on the flatter segment to the Slovenian, but then shipping serious amounts of time on the climb. He was 51st fastest up the 12-kilometre climb, shedding 2:23 to Roglič.
Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal), who came second, had predicted "more than a minute" between most of the favourites and Roglič. But Yates lost 3:11 on Roglič, only slightly less than teammate Esteban Chaves.
Overall, Yates is now at 5:36 on GC leader Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates), but more importantly for the long-term, the Briton is 3:46 down on Roglič, a margin that puts him at a serious disadvantage for the second half of the Giro d'Italia.
"I had a bit of a stinker," Yates said later. "I was going OK on the flat section there, but when I tried to step on it once we reached the climb, I just didn't have anything."
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