Giro d'Italia 2019: Simon Yates will try to do a Froome now, says Wiggins

Updated 20/05/2019 at 13:38 GMT

Bradley Wiggins believes the chance of Giro d’Italia victory for Simon Yates has gone after a disappointing performance in Sunday’s Time Trial.

Bradley Wiggins

Image credit: Eurosport

There are still 12 stages and all of the major climbing remaining in the race, but Yates already trails favourite Primoz Roglic by over three minutes, and when asked by Eurosport’s Orla Chennaoui whether the Briton still had a realistic chance, Wiggins said:

I’d have to say no, because that wasn’t normal that performance from Simon, something has happened.

“We’re now thinking ‘can he get this time back?’ If it was a physical thing then there’s no chance, because he’s now fallen away and you can’t now expect him to suddenly miraculously turn it around.

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“I know we keep talking about Froome, but they did say last year that he’s planning on coming good in the third week. He crashed in the prologue, he got over that, then they had a magic fuelling strategy..he kind of built to that stage.

“But Simon, I can’t see it. I think we’re putting too much pressure on him and expectation. But I’d like to see what’s happened first and get his view on how he felt it went.”

Australian cyclist and Eurosport pundit Simon Gerrans believes the most interesting aspect will be how Yates responds to the challenge of being so far behind at this stage of the race.

“This will be a great chance to see how mentally he handles this,” Gerrans said. “They have the rest day tomorrow, there are a couple of flatter days immediately coming up after the rest day, so if it’s a physical thing then maybe that’s enough time for him to recover.

If he’s still this kind of distance off the leaders going into the final week, why not throw caution to the week? They’ve got some great climbers in that team in (Esteban Chaves) and (Mikel) Nieve so they are in a great position to really animate that race in the final week if they’re all fit and healthy.

The Giro returns on Tuesday with a largely flat sprint stage.

Watch the Giro LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player

Giro d’Italia – Stage 9 Results:

1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 51:52
2. Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Soudal) +0:11
3. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) +1:00
31. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) +3:11

Giro d’Italia – General Classification after Stage 9:

1. Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) 36:08:32
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:50
3. Nans Peters (AG2R La Mondiale) +2:21
24. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) +5:36

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