Adam Yates was not completely calm about the hill time which served as the 8th and final stage of the Tour of Switzerland. Blame it on a bad memory… Five years ago, on Tirreno-Adriatico, the situation was similar. The Briton was leader of the general classification on the morning of the final time trial, a status which he ultimately lost by a second. The defeat was hard to swallow, and stuck in the mind of the climberUAE Team Emirates this Sunday. But the outcome was happy for him, because even if Joao Almeidahis teammate and runner-up overall, beat him in Villars-sur-Ollon – by 9 seconds – Adam Yates won the overall, his 27th professional victory but perhaps the best in a stage race.
The reaction of Adam Yates, big winner of the Tour de Suisse
“Sharing the podium with Joao…”
“It’s certainly one of the best victories of my career, confirms the third of the last Tour de France. With two kilometers to go, I wasn’t sure I could maintain my lead in the general classification. I heard the gaps with Joao (Almeida) and I knew he was going to accelerate, I couldn’t do it anymore. I was at my limit so I tried to keep my speed. Fortunately, it was enough. I’m still out of breath, it was a really tough time trial. Something that had been on my mind for a long time was that I had lost by a second in the final Tirreno-Adriatico time trial in 2019. This had been stuck in my head for many years, so it t’s great to finally win a stage race with a final time trial. Winning a race always gives a good feeling. And sharing the podium with Joao makes the victory even more special.”
