Simon Yates ready to lead team at debut Giro d'Italia

BySportsbeat

Updated 27/04/2018 at 15:13 GMT

Simon Yates will make his Giro d'Italia debut next month with a top ten finish on his mind but under no illusion as to the difficulty of the task ahead of him.

Mitchelton-Scott cycling team's Simon Yates from Great Britain celebrates as he crosses the finish line at the end of the seventh stage of the Paris - Nice cycling race between Nice and Valdeblore La Colmiane on March 10, 2018, in La Colmiane.

Image credit: Getty Images

The 25-year-old already has top ten finishes in the sport's two other Grand Tours to his name, having finished seventh in the Tour de France last year and six in the Vuelta a Espana the year before.

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Yates will be a joint leader of his Mitchelton-Scott team, alongside Colombia's Esteban Chaves, as they target their first ever Grand Tour overall victory.

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Chaves twice finished on Grand Tour podiums in 2016, taking second at the Giro and third at La Vuelta, but has struggled with illness and injury since then.

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And Yates hopes the pair together can form a formidable attacking threat in the Italian mountains.

"We've assembled one of the best teams we can for a Grand Tour," said Yates.

"Even without having raced before it's clear the Giro is one of, if not the most difficult and demanding race on the calendar."

The pair will be supported by Roman Kreuziger and Mikel Nieve in the mountains, both of whom have been in Grand Tour winning teams before moving to Mitchelton-Scott.

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And the team's sporting director, Matt White, has not been shy with their ambitions this season, although he acknowledges that with reigning champion Tom Dumoulin and four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome also on the startlist, his riders will be underdogs.

"We are making no secret that our focus for the Giro d'Italia is on the general classification and Yates and Chaves are our leaders," he said.

"We are not the favourites, but we have two guys who are going to challenge the favourites whenever the opportunity arises.

"They have worked really well in the past in these roles and we're expecting the same again."

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