Adam Yates joins Ineos Grenadiers, twin Simon stays with Mitchelton-Scott

Adam Yates has signed for Ineos Grenadiers on a two-year deal starting in January, with the announcement made the day after it was confirmed that his twin brother Simon had extended his contract with Mitchelton Scott.

The twins from Bury, aged 29, both turned pro with the Australian UCI WorldTour team in 2014.

Adam – fourth overall in the 2016 Tour de France – took his biggest professional victory the previous year at the Clasica Ciclistica de San Sebastian.

His brother Simon has emerged as the stronger of the two, winning multiple stages in all three Grand Tours and the overall victory at the 2018 Vuelta.

Ineos Grenadiers team principal Sir Dave Brailsford said: “I’m really delighted that Adam is finally joining the team. It feels like the timing is just right as he enters the prime of his career and we embark on a new era as the Ineos Grenadiers.

“As a global team with a British heart, Adam’s no-nonsense British character is a perfect fit. He knows how to win and his gritty, determined and resilient approach are exactly the attributes we are looking to foster as we assemble the new INEOS Grenadiers to be built on purpose.”

Yates, who began the year by winning the UAE Tour before racing was suspended, said: “The prospect of riding for a British team is one that I am extremely excited about.

“I’ve witnessed the rise of cycling in the UK during my career and I think this has been spurred on by success of British riders and this team.

“It is an exciting opportunity and one that I feel has come at the right time.

“My results in week-long races and one day races have been really solid but I would like to take that consistency to Grand Tour racing with the Ineos Grenadiers and see where it takes me.”

After Simon Yates won the Vuelta in 2018 – completing an unprecedented hat-trick of victories that year by riders from one country in all three Grand Tours – Sir Bradley Wiggins suggested that he would not have won the race had he and his brother joined Team Sky earlier in their careers.

“If he’d gone to Sky, I don’t think he’d have won the Vuelta,” Wiggins said. “It was sliding doors moment, whether his career would have gone down this path.

“By nature of the fact that Sky wouldn’t take Adam as well in one package, he’s ended up finding a great team and won a grand tour at 26,” he added.