Sean Yates (born 18 May 1960) is an English former professional cyclist and directeur sportif.

Career

Yates competed at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, finishing sixth in the 4,000m individual pursuit. As an amateur in 1980, he won the British 25-mile

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

championship, and took the national record for 10-mile time trials with 19m 44s. As an amateur Yates rode for Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris, Europe's most successful

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

with fellow British riders Kevin Reilly from Southport,

John Herety John P Herety (born 8 March 1958) is a former English racing cyclist. He rode for Great Britain in the Olympic Games and won the national road championship as a professional. He is currently manager of the cycling team, and occasionally provid ...

and Jeff Williams. Yates first race for the ACBB was the Grand Prix de Saint-Tropez which he won by riding off the front of the

peloton In a road Cycle sport, bicycle race, the peloton (, originally meaning ) is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting (racing), drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The ...

. Yates won fifteen races in total for the ACBB and also finished third in the prestigious

Grand Prix des Nations which was won by Martial Gayant. Yates had developed a reputation as a strong time trialist and for an incredible turn of speed and power. He turned professional in 1982 for

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

riding alongside Graham Jones, Phil Anderson, Robert Millar and Stephen Roche. He stayed with

for six seasons and became British professional

individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

champion in 1982 and 1983. In 1988 riding for Fagor, he won the sixth stage of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, a 52 km time-trial, beating Roberto Visentini by 14 seconds and

Tony Rominger Tony Rominger (born 27 March 1961) is a Swiss former professional road racing cyclist who won the Vuelta a España in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and the Giro d'Italia in 1995. Career He began cycling late, allegedly spurred by competition with his br ...

by 23 seconds. That year he also won a stage at the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

, Midi-Libre and finished fourth overall in the Tour of Britain. In 1989 he joined the American team,

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

and took two stages and overall victory in the Tour of Belgium, won the Grand Prix Eddy Merckx and finished second in

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

. In 1991 Yates then moved to

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

, where he rode with

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

. During stage six of the 1994 Tour de France Yates got into a breakaway and took the overall lead by one second over Gianluca Bortolami. He became only the third

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

to wear the

yellow jersey The general classification of the Tour de France is the most important classification of the race and determines the winner of the race. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification has worn the yellow jersey ( ). History For the first t ...

. He wore it for one day and after Bradley Wiggins won the 2012 Tour de France he sold it to him; this has become Wiggins' most prized possession in his collection. Yates retired in 1996 having competed in 12 Tours, completing nine; 45th was his best placing overall. Yates spent much of his 15-year career as a domestique. He was powerful on flat stages and noted as a descender of mountains. For a rouleur Yates climbed very well for his weight.

Doping

In 1989, Yates tested positive for

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolism, Anaboli ...

s in a doping test in the first stage of Torhout-Werchter. However, his 'B' sample did not confirm the 'A' sample and Yates was subsequently cleared because it was accepted that a labelling error must have occurred and the tested sample was not his. Following the report in October 2012 from the US Anti-Doping Agency that detailed organised doping in the US Postal/Discovery Channel teams, Yates insisted on BBC Radio 5 Live that he saw nothing suspicious during his six years working alongside

Management career

After retiring in 1996, Yates became manager of the Linda McCartney Racing Team, which competed at the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

. After the team's collapse in 2001, Yates helped set up the Australian iteamNova but left after funds ran out. After six months out of cycling, he joined Team CSC-Tiscali before moving to Discovery, in 2005, at the invitation of

. In June 2007, Yates was manager of Team Discovery a USA team and, in 2008, went on to manage riders on the

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

cycling team. In 2009, he was signed up as director of the newly formed Team Sky, a British-based team intent on providing Britain's first

winner. Yates spent three years as the team's lead Director Sportif and, in 2012, presided over

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional Road bicycle racing, road and track cycling, track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but ...

' victories in

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

, Critérium du Dauphiné,

and the Olympic Time Trial. However, his race support during the

2012 Tour de France The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées stage in the Tour de France, Champs ...

was heavily criticised by

Mark Cavendish Sir Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx people, Manx retired professional cyclist. As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialised in the Madison (cycling), madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he ...

who described Yates as "cold, uninspiring and miserly in praise." In October 2012, he left Team Sky and retired from cycling, with the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' reporting that Yates had been forced to quit after admitting involvement in doping, meaning he did not meet the team's zero tolerance stance on doping. Both Sky and Yates denied these claims with Yates stating that the decision to resign was based on ill health and a desire to spend more time with his family. After a year away from the sport, Yates took the position of directeur sportif for the NFTO team from the 2014 season. Subsequently, Yates clarified that this role would be limited to the first three rounds of the Premier Calendar and the

Tour Series The Tour Series is an annual series of cycling criterium races held in the United Kingdom since 2009. It is televised by ITV4 in the UK. The competition emphasises team effort with individual wins deemed less important. The races are held over ...

. He was also involved in coaching the Catford CC-Equipe Banks under-23 team, which includes his son Liam on its roster. He was one of their sports directors for Team Tinkoff–Saxo in the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Since relocating to Spain, he has worked part time as a coaching consultant.

Post-professional racing

In 1997, he won the British 50-mile time-trial championship, and he finished third in the same event in 2005. In May 2007, he said he would not compete as a veteran because of heart irregularities. In 2009, he was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame. In late 2016, Yates had an accident in the course of doing part-time gardening work, and was hospitalised for several weeks. This delayed his plan to move to a small farm near Useras in Spain, where he was living as of June 2020. In 2022 he was given ''Cycling Weeklys Lifetime Achievement award, recognising not only his multiple achievements but also a lifetime involvement in the sport.Shrubsall, James, 2 December 2022,
Sean Yates: How I got the nickname 'Animal'
''Cycling Weekly''. Retrieved 13 May 2024.

Major results

;1979 : 6th GP de France ;1980 : 1st Prologue Sealink International : 1st Overall Girvan :

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

::6th Individual pursuit ::7th Team pursuit (with M.Elliot, T.Doyle and G.Mitchell) : 2nd GP de France ;1981 : 1st Grand Prix de Saint-Tropez : 1st GP de France : 1st Issoire : 2nd Flèche d'Or : 3rd Grand Prix des Nations Amateurs ;1982 : 1st Stage 3 Tour d'Indre-et-Loire : 1st Stage 4

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...

: 1st Airedale : 1st Classic New Southsea : 1st Great Yorkshire : 1st Southsea ;1983 : 1st London : 5th Overall

Milk Race The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

;1984 : 1st Bristol : 1st Prologue

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk () is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been held over a 5 or 6 day period for ...

: 3rd Overall Tour of Sweden ;1985 : 2nd Nice–Alassio ;1986 : 1st Stage 2

;1987 : 1st Grand Prix de Cannes : 1st Stage 3 Nissan Classic : 8th Grand Prix des Nations ;1988 : 1st Stage 6

: 1st Stage 12

: 1st Stage 1

: 1st Stage 5 Grand Prix du Midi Libre : 4th Overall Tour of Britain ;1989 : 1st Jersey red

Overall Tour of Belgium ::1st Stages 1a & 1b : 1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx : 1st Prologue Ronde van Nederland : 2nd

;1990 : 3rd Overall Nissan Classic : 3rd Trofeo Baracchi ;1991 : 1st Stage 5 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 2nd Overall Nissan Classic ::1st Stage 4 ;1992 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Road Championships ;1993 : 1st Stage 3

Tour DuPont The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held annually between 1989 and 1996, initially called the Tour de Trump in the first two years. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestig ...

: 8th

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

;1994 : 1st USPRO Championship : 2nd Thrift Drug Classic : 2nd

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand Prix d'Isbergues is a professional cycle road race held in Isbergues, Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which ...

: 3rd

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

: 5th

::Held

after Stage 6

References

External links

Sean Yates Official Website
*
''Q&A: Sean Yates''
Ben Moore, BBC, 2007.
Pezcyclingnews interview of Sean Yates by Matt Wood
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Sean 1960 births Living people English cycling coaches English male cyclists British male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1980 Summer Olympics British Tour de France stage winners British cycling road race champions Directeur sportifs Waldorf school alumni People from Ewell