Adam Yates follows in Tadej Pogačar’s wheel tracks to win at the Santuario di Oropa, whilst Florian Vermeersch takes the rainbow jersey for Belgium
Sunday 12 October, 2025
One week on from his victory at the Coppa Agostoni, Adam Yates rose triumphant once more for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with the British climber winning the inaugural edition of the Valdengo-Oropa. Otherwise known as the Trofeo Tessile & Moda, Yates won the Italian one-day on the summit finish at the Santuario di Oropa.
For Yates, the win came less than 24 hours after he had helped Tadej Pogačar to success at Il Lombardia, and takes UAE Team Emirates-XRG to 94 victories for the season. This latest triumph came thanks to a pitch-perfect display of teamwork from the Emirati squad, from both WorldTour and Gen Z riders alike.
In the early knockings of the 170km contest from Valdengo to Oropa, both Enea Sambinello and Mateo Pablo Ramírez stepped up to keep the day’s breakaway at a manageable distance, before their Gen Z colleague Adrià Pericas took hold of the reins as the day’s only climb appeared on the horizon.
Standing at 6.1% for 11.8km, the Santuario di Oropa climb was last used for a bike race on stage 2 of the 2024 Giro d’Italia, won by the eventual conqueror of that year’s race, Pogačar. This time around, it was his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates who came to the fore and made a playground of its punishing slopes.
Ready to make the step up to the team’s WorldTour squad on a permanent basis in 2025, Pericas led his teammates into the early kilometres of the Oropa climb and strung out the peloton with his pace. The impact of Pericas was so great, in fact, that only one rider had the energy to go with Jay Vine when the Australian attacked with 5.9km to go.
That rider was Mathys Rondel of Tudor Pro Cycling, and the Frenchman would play a large role in the day’s finale. First up, however, Vine was soon joined by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate, with Pavel Sivakov making a counter-attack over the top of the pair some 300m later.
The Emirati squad was determined to use numbers to its advantage, helped by Vine, Sivakov and Yates all carrying their form into Sunday’s race from Il Lombardia on Saturday. Sivakov’s attack was equally as bruising as that of Vine, and once more, only Rondel was able to follow the move from the group of favourites.
Behind the pair, Yates bided his time and let his rivals do the work of trying to coalesce a chasing group.
Rondel, to his credit, showed great strength to distance Sivakov with 4km to ride to the finish line, prompting Yates to make his move from behind. Little by little, the 33-year-old dragged the Frenchman closer, and with 3.2km to go, the pair were together at the very front of the race.
From here to the final corner, it was Yates and Rondel who would animate the race. Vine made a smart move from behind to try and bridge across with 1.8km to go, but it would never see the Australian make contact with the front.
Instead, Yates and Rondel went under the flamme rouge, knowing full well that the honours were theirs to be contested. Sensing his opportunity with 200m to go, Yates got the jump on the Tudor Pro Cycling man, and as he rounded the final bend and approached the 100m to go sign, the Brit had a gap.
Jumping out of his saddle, Yates only built on this advantage, and by the line he could celebrate his third victory of the season. Continuing his efforts to the finish, Vine claimed third place for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, marking another brilliant day for the team in Italy.
Speaking after the finish, Yates spoke of his delight at finishing his season with another win.
Yates: “It has been a good way to end the season. Obviously, yesterday in Lombardia was a super hard race but we managed to win there and in the end, winning is a little bit contagious. So we were all super motivated today to try and win, and luckily with me, so it’s a super, super way to end the season.
“We had three guys in good shape. We all rode yesterday super well and obviously, a little bit of fatigue in the legs so we knew that today was going to be hard. But when we came to a climb like this, we knew we would have a good chance. We just had to work out who was strong, who the rivals were, and take it from there.
“I think we played the climb quite well. Jay went quite early and then Pavel with a counter-attack, so we played our cards and in the end, we managed to win.
“My season is finished now. It started a long long time ago in February so I am happy to finish the season here with a win and happy for some rest.”
Valdengo-Oropa 2025 results:
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:58:49
- Mathys Rondel (Tudor Pro Cycling) +11″
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +25″
- Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +35″
