Six years after Simon Yates broke away on the Alto de Hazallanas and soloed to victory in Granada in the Vuelta a Andalucia, his brother Adam Yates repeated family history with a lone win in the same city in the Vuelta a España, also attacking on the same climb of Hazallanas as well.
While Simon’s win came in the early-season stage race back in 2018 thanks to an attack 27 kilometres from the line, Adam Yates' victory in the Vuelta a España was captured on stage 9 after getting away in the break of the day and then dropping all his rivals some 60 kilometres out.
The UAE Team Emirates rider said later that he was cramping "full on" across the final descent into the city and that he had never suffered so badly before in the heat. But apart from a superb solo win, he still managed to retain 1:39 on closest chaser Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and gain 3:45 on the leader’s group, moving up 20 places overall into seventh on GC.
As Yates told reporters, more than GC for him the important thing was claiming the second Grand Tour stage win of his career. To do so in a city for which he has a strong personal affection - he got married in Granada last year - only made it even more special.
“Simon and I talk every day, so I knew he’d won here and we’d compared times for the climbs on Strava,” Yates said afterwards. “But it was so hot out there, I didn’t go fast at all on the climbs, I was just suffering a lot and hoping it would end.
“Over the last time I was cramping full and I’ve had a lot of bad luck over the years in Grand Tours, so I really didn’t know if I could make it. I’m just so happy I could fucking finally win another GT stage.”
After attacking so far from the finish and dropping his most persistent pursuer, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) on the first ascent of Hazallanas, Yates said that he started cramping on the unclassified climb that preceded the decisive ascent of the day.
“The team car told me I had three minutes, so I knew I had to go at my pace, and even if l Iost some time I’d be quite safe,” Yates said. “Specially towards the top I really had to slow down. But I knew every corner on the descent and that I could make it to the finish. With the headwind I was suffering a lot, but I knew it’d be over soon.”
Yates is far from being alone with knowing the Granada climbs so well, given he and many of other riders frequently train at altitude in Sierra Nevada, in the Briton’s case, he said, twice a year.
But as Yates explained his affection for the area and city at the foot of Sierra Nevada runs much deeper than it merely being a favoured area for training, given he and his wife opted to get married in Granada last year, near the city's world-famous Alhambra palace.
Motivation
As much as personal affection for Granada, what drove Yates and UAE to shine on stage 9 in particular was their collective determination to bounce back after co-leader João Almeida had to quit the race with COVID-19 just hours before the start. UAE therefore went all out for the early breakaway, first putting Yates, Jay Vine and Marc Soler in the 26-man move, then upping the pace ferociously on the Alto del Purche, the first classified climb of the day with Yates two teammates.
“It was a super team effort with Marc and Jay in the break, they set me up perfectly,” Yates recognised. “Then it was just me and Gaudu, he was suffering in the heat, but so was I. I knew I had to go for it, that it was the right moment and then it was just suffering, suffering, suffering all the way to the finish line.”
The Briton’s tenacity paid off big time, with the stage win, the lead in the King of the Mountains classification and a major bounceback on GC all falling his way. After his bad crash and time loss three days ago in the sierras of Cadiz, this was a real reversal of fortunes for the UAE rider, although as he said afterwards, more than the GC gains, it was the stage win that he wanted the most.
“I honestly didn’t give a shit about GC today, it was all about the stage and going full gas, I had nothing to lose,” Yates said.
When the dust settled on his victory, though, Yates has found now in a much better position overall, and as he said, come the second and third week of the Vuelta, he’ll look to see what he can achieve.
“João pulling out was a big loss for us, I’m so far down in GC after I had the crash and losing time here and there, so I knew we had nothing to lose,” Yates explained.
“So we went all in to try and win the stage, and then the GC would be what it is.
“But I’ve also seen next week, it will be a lot cooler,” he said referring to a massive transfer north on Monday placing the Vuelta on the other side of the country.
“If it had continued being this hot there’d have been no way I was riding GC. But I’ll see what my legs are like on Tuesday’s stage with the cooler weather and then I’ll give you a better answer about that, too.”
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