Quebec and Montreal Grands Prix Twins like no other

(Quebec) Adam and Simon Yates are placed at both ends of the row of onions for the now traditional photo of the headliners of the Grands Prix Cyclists, Wednesday afternoon, in Quebec.

Fortunately, for the past three years, the 31-year-old British twins have not run for the same team, which makes it easier to identify them, on the road as with a polo shirt on their backs.

In Bilbao, the 1^er July, the Yates had something of a daydream when they fled together at the end of the first stage of the Tour de France.

Adam won, although Simon is usually a better finisher.

“Normally, yes, but it was at the end of a very difficult day, the first stage of the Tour de France, you are already in the thick of it,” recalled Simon, who has been playing for the Australian team Jayco AlUla since the beginning of his career.

Simon took a long time to realize what had just happened: “Even during the evening, you see the reaction in the media and everything that surrounded this moment. It was really special. »

Thanks to his first Tour stage victory, Adam had the honor of donning the yellow jersey for the second time in his career. The representative of the UAE Team Emirates formation, who approached the race as a mountain lieutenant for Tadej Pogačar, suddenly found himself in the limelight.

You should have seen him at the start of the fourth stage, in the shadow of the Dax arenas, trying to have a moment of intimacy with his wife Lisa while a cloud of supporters and followers surrounded them. Their dog Zoe, a smiling Samoyed, has become a social media star.

Adam smiled on Wednesday when he saw this photo that appeared in The Press that day, asking to have it sent.

“It seems like it’s been so long, he first reacted. It’s not natural for me to find myself in this kind of situation. But leading the greatest cycling race in the world is a huge privilege and a huge honor. It doesn’t happen every day and we have to take advantage of it. »

The presence of Simon at his side obviously made the experience even more special. In a press briefing after the stage, he said he expected his twin to be “a pain in the ass” in the following days.

Twins, rivals and neighbors

Asked about this, the principal concerned assured that everything had gone well on the road… “We are not really rivals, we get along very well, underlined Simon. We teased each other a bit, but it was nothing serious. »

Their parents followed them to Spain in a motor home. “They are now retired and they can enjoy life,” said Adam. Simon and I are their only two children. It doesn’t happen every day to see your two boys finish first and second in the first stage like that. It was fantastic. »

The Yates’ coup was not limited to the big start. Even though he constantly chaperoned Pogačar until his fatal failure at the foot of the Col de la Loze, Adam managed to climb on the third step of the podium, a personal best after his fourth place in 2016.

“At the start, the strategy was to keep myself well positioned in the general classification, see how it would go and play with that a bit. At the end, the team supported me so that I could try for the podium. That was super nice of him. We had a good race. We didn’t win [Pogačar a fini deuxième], but we had two guys on the podium and two stage wins. »

Simon finished strong to move up to fourth place overall, surpassing his seventh place finish in 2017.

“It’s huge,” agreed the winner of the Vuelta and the WorldTour points classification in 2018.

“It’s my best result in the Tour, I have to be happy with it. Beyond that, there is the performance, the numbers. Everyone talks about how performance has exploded. Under the circumstances, fourth was the best I could do. So I took a step. »

The twins, who are neighbors in Andorra, will have different roles for the Quebec and Montreal Grands Prix on Friday and Sunday.

Eleventh in the Maryland Classic last week, Simon will mainly focus on supporting his Australian leader Michael Matthews, crowned twice on the Grande Allée (2018 and 2019) and once on Mount Royal (2018).

“We arrive with a strong team, estimated the one who is on his first visit since 2015. We can be aggressive or we can be quite defensive and try to play the sprint [à Québec]. It will also depend on what the other formations intend to do. »

Adam, a regular at the Canadian classics, will also count on a formidable squadron including two former winners in Montreal, Belgian Tim Wellens (2015) and Italian Diego Ulissi (2017). The Swiss Marc Hirschi, former world champion, also seems to have returned to his best level and the Polish Rafal Majka is an exceptional climber.

“Quebec does not suit me as much as Montreal,” he said. It is decided more by a sprint of a reduced group. Montreal is a little harder. I feel good on the climb. I think I ended up in the top 10 at both races last year [7^e et 4^e]. We wish for the same. »

Identical twin word.