Simon Yates overcomes years of setbacks to win the 2025 Giro d’Italia in emotional triumph.

Simon Yates banished seven years of Grand Tour agony with a stunning, career-defining victory in the 2025 Giro d’Italia. The 32-year-old Visma-Lease a Bike rider crossed the finish line in Rome beaming, having turned heartbreak into history with a controlled, courageous performance over three brutal weeks.

Yates had all but sealed his triumph with a blistering attack on the gravel ascent of the Colle delle Finestre the day before, linking up with teammate Wout van Aert from the breakaway to deliver a masterstroke of teamwork and timing. His dominance on that climb—where he had infamously cracked in 2018—was a moment of redemption so overwhelming he could barely hold back tears.

Twenty-four hours later, the smile wouldn’t leave his face. “Honestly, I think it’s still sinking in,” he told TNT Sports. “It’s the defining moment of my career, no doubt.”

Yates beat UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Isaac del Toro by nearly four minutes, having wrested the pink jersey from his rivals with unshakable determination and meticulous racecraft. His team managed his campaign with precision, using Van Aert as a launchpad on key stages and controlling the peloton in moments of danger.

It was a deeply personal win, too. At the finish, Yates was met by his girlfriend, who had missed her flight the day before because she was watching his decisive attack. On the podium, he celebrated with his brother Adam’s baby—poignant given Adam had been racing the Giro in support of Yates’ chief rival, Del Toro.

Adam, set to ride the Tour de France for Tadej Pogačar in July, joked, “If I were him, I’d be retiring right now.” But for Simon, the victory is more likely a rebirth than a finale.

“This one’s taken years,” Yates admitted. “I’ve had good results before, but nothing compares to this. We’ll celebrate, and then see what comes next.”

His journey to this point has been anything but smooth. Once tipped as Britain’s next Grand Tour giant, Yates first lit up the sport with a stage win at the 2016 Vuelta and a top-ten Tour finish in 2017. But it was the 2018 Giro that both elevated and haunted him. After dominating in pink for much of the race, he cracked spectacularly on the Colle delle Finestre, surrendering the lead to Chris Froome in one of the most dramatic collapses in modern cycling.

Though he redeemed himself by winning the Vuelta later that year, subsequent Grand Tours were riddled with setbacks—crashes, injuries, illness, and a recurring inability to convert promise into podiums. In 2019, he returned to the Giro only to crash early and fade. In 2020, Covid forced his withdrawal. In 2021, he lost ground to Egan Bernal on the snow-shortened stage to Passo Giau. In 2022, a knee injury and searing heat undid him once again.

Even when he shifted focus to the Tour de France, results were bittersweet. In 2023, he finished fourth behind his brother. In 2024, he faded in the opening week, conceding ten minutes to Pogačar on gravel.

For many, it seemed Yates’s Grand Tour window had closed.

But this Giro changed everything. With maturity, resilience, and a dash of audacity, Yates overcame the ghosts of past failures. He didn’t just win the race—he conquered the narrative.

For a rider long defined by “what ifs,” this was the moment he rewrote his legacy.