Simon Yates will lead Mitchelton-Scott at the Giro d’Italia
Mitchelton-Scott has unveiled its long lists for both the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, confirming that Simon Yates will target the Giro overall this season as initially planned.
Adam Yates and Esteban Chaves, meanwhile, are both on the long list for the squad’s Tour roster, which appears to be focused on hunting stages.
“After the success of last year, we want to chase stage wins at the Tour de France,” said sports director Matt White via a press release. “We rode an aggressive style of racing last year and we want to continue in that vein this year.”
Chaves and Adam Yates are among 11 riders on a long list that also includes Jack Bauer, Sam Bewley, Brent Bookwalter, Alex Edmondson, Tsgabu Grmay, Daryl Impey, Chris Juul-Jensen, Luka Mezgec, and Mikel Nieve.
The announcement of the team’s 2020 plans was more resolute in its characterization of Mitchelton-Scott’s Giro goal: battling for the overall title with Simon Yates.
“The focus for us at the Giro d’Italia will be to support Simon Yates as best as possible, to help him achieve the optimal result we can as a team and ultimately try to win the race,” White said.
“For me, the Giro d’Italia is the most physically demanding Grand Tour, so having a strong team around you certainly makes a difference. The team we will send will be a deep one and I’m confident Simon will have great support across all facets of racing.”
Yates has won three Giro stages in his career and has finished as highly as eighth overall. In 2018 he led the race into the final week but dropped out of GC contention in the last few stages to finish outside the top 20.
The long list of riders set to join Yates at the 2020 Giro also includes Edoardo Affini, Brent Bookwalter, Jack Haig, Lucas Hamilton, Michael Hepburn, Damien Howson, Chris Juul-Jensen, Cameron Meyer, Nick Schultz, Simon Yates, Andrey Zeits.
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