Why British brothers Adam and Simon Yates could hold the key to the Tour de France yellow jersey amid Tadej Pogacar-Jonas Vingegaard rivalry
Published 02/07/2025 at 12:30 GMT+1
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The impending mano a mano showdown between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard is just days away, and Tour de France fans all around the world are salivating at the prospect of another momentum-shifting contest. Speculation surrounds their teams' tactics, but could it come down to a rivalry within a rivalry, namely that between British brothers Adam Yates and Simon Yates?
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It is almost time for Tadej Pogacar v Jonas Vingegaard in a battle between the UAE Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike riders once more at the Tour de France.
The pair have hoovered up all of the last five yellow jerseys between them, with Egan Bernal's victory back in 2019 the last time anyone broke the pair's stranglehold on the world's greatest bike race.
After their one-two at the Tour warm-up Criterium du Dauphine, it looks set for another classic head-to-head in the 112th edition of the grand old event.
Huge intrigue surrounds how Vingegaard's Visma-Lease a Bike team will seek to wrest the maillot jaune back from Pogacar and his UAE colleagues - and it could be that the role of British identical twin brothers Adam (UAE) and Simon Yates (Visma) proves crucial.
Simon is in the form of his life, winning his first ever Grand Tour after triumphing at this year's Giro d'Italia following an astonishing turnaround in the final days.
He comes into his latest three-week marathon as a super domestique to Vingegaard, while brother Adam will perform the corresponding role for Pogacar.
As such, the brothers could find themselves among the last riders left on the race-defining mountain stages of the race, shepherding their leaders, driving the pace or playing tactical cards.
Who will be in better shape? And can they put sibling affection aside?
One man who has raced alongside all the aforementioned riders until his recent retirement is Romain Bardet, who spoke to TNT Sports as part of a pre-Tour press call.
Bardet, who will be on motorbike duty for TNT's Tour coverage, talked "revenge" and "jokers" as he analysed the Yates' vital roles.
"From the outside it seems that they are in a different dynamic," Bardet began.
"Simon has probably had one of the best moments of his career in the Giro. The hype here, joining Visma it’s proved to be such a good environment for him.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
"I think he’s in the group for a reason, he’s there as the 'joker', amongst Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson and Jonas, they are one of the strongest climbing squads in the race.
"I think he’s already fulfilled his expectations for the season with the Giro. They really want to try to win with Visma, with Jonas.
"For Adam, he’s a bit more used to the [domestique] role. Maybe it didn’t go exactly how it planned to be in the Giro for him [12th-placed finish], so it depends on how physically he will recover because the Giro was pretty tough in the last week.
"I’m not saying it’s a revenge to take, but I think he can achieve a much higher level than he had in the Giro.
"He will be one of the last guys, with [Joao] Almeida, to pull for Pogacar on the climbs, and in this situation, once Pogacar is gone, then maybe he can catch some wheels and also achieve a super high general classification and even a podium. He has the physical ability to do so.
"I would say mentally they are approaching the Tour de France in a different mindset."
For Visma, the 2025 edition has seen them deploy one of the strongest climbing teams possibly ever seen in the history of the race as they attempt to end Pogacar's dominance.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Their full lineup is Vingegaard, Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson, Yates, Sepp Kuss, Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts and Edoardo Affini.
Yates and Kuss are Grand Tour winners, Van Aert is one of the best multi-discipline riders of his generation, Jorgenson has won the last two editions of Paris-Nice, and Campenaerts is a former hour record-holder.
"With these eight very strong riders, we believe in the plan we made for the Tour de France," their team statement said.
"From day one we will have to be there as a team to optimally assist Jonas in the GC.
"In addition, there will be opportunities for several riders to go for stage wins.
"We are very deliberately focused on ourselves and our own plan.
"We have an optimal preparation behind us and with that, we think we can get the best possible result."
Just days remain until the road decides, with the Yates brothers likely to be front and centre of a potentially era-defining Tour.
Watch and stream the 2025 Tour de France live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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