Sestriere (Turin), 31 May (LaPresse) – ‘In recent weeks, I've tried to hide myself away a little, as I knew that the race would be decided during the third week. My goal in the early days was not to lose time with crashes and time trials’. Simon Yates (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) said this at a press conference after winning the pink jersey in the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia, which finished in Sestriere. "The team did an incredible job, I was always in the right place at the right time, I never crashed. The last week started with a difficult stage, I tried but I wasn't as strong as today. Even this morning I had some doubts, but the team always encouraged me, told me to believe in myself, I tried and it went well,‘ added the Briton. ’I can't say if the point where I attacked was the point where I crashed in 2018, I just know that I felt good and wanted to try. I knew that the two of them (Carapaz and Del Toro, ed.) were more explosive and that it would be a problem to have them close in the final. I had to try to go alone and take a risk." In the final stage, Yates was also supported by his teammate Wout Van Aert. ‘He was sensational, it's an option we've tried in recent days, but today everything went our way,’ explained Yates. ‘He did everything for me and it's not the first time he's done it. He's a great champion and a great teammate. Today, much of the success is also his.’
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