Adam and Simon Yates: Twin Blades Sharpened for the Giro

The clearest image we have of twins Adam and Simon Yates battling each other probably dates back to the opening stage of the 2023 Tour de France in Bilbao. Already riding for different teams at that point, the brothers found themselves going head-to-head for the first yellow jersey, in what felt like a cruel, yet somehow poetic, fraternal showdown. In the end, Adam came out on top, but it was a sensational Tour for both, as they finished 3rd and 4th overall.

At the Giro d’Italia 2025, a similar script might be in the making. The two, who get along beautifully in everyday life but offer no favours when the race is on, haven’t ridden on the same team since 2021. That’s when Adam left the family nest, Mitchelton-Scott (now Jayco AlUla), to try his luck at Ineos and then UAE Team Emirates. Simon only made his first major team move this year, joining Visma | Lease a Bike. Which means, in 2025, the twins are now squaring off as rivals on the two strongest teams in the world.

Adam and Simon Yates rivals in the Giro d’Italia

When it comes to the Corsa Rosa, history is on Simon’s side. He’s won five stages at the Giro and stood on the final podium in 2021, the year Egan Bernal triumphed. But fans will most vividly remember the heartbreak of 2018. After dominating much of the race, Simon cracked spectacularly on the Colle delle Finestre, losing no less than 40 minutes just two days from the finish and opening the door for Chris Froome’s legendary solo raid. The Italian Grand Tour has seen Simon at his absolute peak and absolute lowest. The hope is that 2025 brings him back into the spotlight for all the right reasons. And with Olav Kooij and Wout Van Aert targeting stage wins, Visma has the flexibility to go all-in for GC as well.

Adam, on the other hand, has only raced the Giro once, back in 2017, when he was a 24-year-old chasing the white jersey. Expectations were high after his breakout performance at the previous year’s Tour de France, where he finished 4th overall and took the best young rider classification. But his three weeks in Italy were solid rather than spectacular: he finished 9th overall and runner-up for the Maglia Bianca behind Bob Jungels, without, however, particularly impressing the public.
Despite a career full of remarkable results, Adam hasn’t won on Italian soil since 2018, when he took the stage in Filottrano at Tirreno Adriatico. UAE Team Emirates-XRG is also bringing Juan Ayuso to the Giro, and given the Spaniard’s jaw-dropping start to the season, it’s fair to assume Adam may begin the race slightly behind in the team’s internal pecking order. Still, UAE has often opted to keep multiple riders high up in the GC mix, and Adam has every reason to aim for a major Grand Tour result. Simon vs. Adam – once again. Who will come out on top this time at the Giro d’Italia?