Being the favourite for any race does not come easily to Simon Yates, let alone being odds-on to win a three-week Grand Tour such as the Giro d’Italia, which starts in Turin on Saturday. Two years ago I made some mistakes in training beforehand, and I did too much too early in 2018. The double Giro winner Vincenzo Nibali returns to excite the passionate home crowds, but the “Shark of Messina” now has less of Jaws about him; think Bruce, the shark from Finding Nemo who has lost his bite. The first time these were included in the Giro, in 2011, bad weather, mud, punctures and crashes blew the race apart. “I will have to be careful, calm and cautious.” In the least predictable Grand Tour of them all, that’s a fine aspiration, but at some point, he will have to throw caution to the wind like everyone else.

Source: The Guardian May 07, 2021 10:36 UTC