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

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' ( French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

Career

Yates competed at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, 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 track-b ...

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 bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reductio ...

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

Grand Prix des Nations The Grand Prix des Nations was an 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 ...

which was won by

Martial Gayant Martial Gayant (born 16 November 1962 in Chauny) is a former French cyclist, now a team captain of . In 1988, Gayant came second in the World road Championships. Major results Source: ;1981 * GP des Nations, amateurs ;1984 * Giro d'Italia: st ...

. 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 brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

riding alongside Graham Jones, Phil Anderson,

Robert Millar Philippa York (born Robert Millar on 13 September 1958) is a Scottish journalist and former professional road racing cyclist. York, who competed when known as Robert Millar, is one of Britain's most successful cyclists. York won the "King of ...

and

Stephen Roche Stephen Roche (; born 28 November 1959) is an Irish former professional road racing cyclist. In a 13-year professional career, he peaked in 1987, becoming the second of only two cyclists to win the Triple Crown of victories in the Tour de Fr ...

. 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 for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...

champion in 1982 and 1983. In 1988 riding for

Fagor Fagor Electrodoméstico was a large domestic and commercial appliance manufacturer based in the Basque Country, Spain and run by the Mondragon Corporation. Fagor was Spain's largest consumer appliance company and the fifth largest electrical ap ...

, he won the sixth stage of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, a 52 km time-trial, beating

Roberto Visentini Roberto Visentini (born 2 June 1957) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist who won the White Jersey in the 1978 Giro, finished in the top 10 of the 1979, 1980, and 1981 Giro's, made the podium in 1983, wore the Maglia Rosa for ...

by 14 seconds and

Tony Rominger Tony Rominger (born 27 March 1961 in Vejle, Denmark) 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. He began cycling late, allegedly spurred by competition wi ...

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

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage 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'Italia, the r ...

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional 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 Col d'Èze overlookin ...

, Midi-Libre and finished fourth overall in the

Tour of Britain 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 the S ...

. In 1989 he joined the American team,

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

and took two stages and overall victory in the

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Betw ...

, won the

Grand Prix Eddy Merckx Grand Prix Eddy Merckx was a cycle race around Brussels, where Eddy Merckx was born. It was held between 1980 and 2004, disappearing after the creation of the UCI ProTour in 2005. The race was initially an individual time trial An individual tim ...

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 corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

, 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. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...

. During stage six of the

1994 Tour de France The 1994 Tour de France was the 81st edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began on 2 July with a prologue around the French city Lille. After 21 more days of racing, the Tour came to a close on the street of the ...

Yates got into a breakaway and took the overall lead by one second over

Gianluca Bortolami Gianluca Bortolami (born 28 August 1968) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist. Bortolami's greatest feats was capturing the monumental classic Tour of Flanders in 2001 and winning the 1994 UCI Road World Cup season championship. ...

. He became only the third

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

to wear the

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

. 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 In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équipier''. In I ...

. He was powerful on flat stages and noted as a descender of mountains. For a

rouleur A rouleur is a type of racing cyclist considered a good all-rounder. Details In road bicycle racing different courses favour different types of rider depending on a range of environmental conditions such as terrain, climate and distance. Flat co ...

Yates climbed very well for his weight.

Doping

In 1989, Yates tested positive for

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone (medication), testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related ...

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 BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

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. 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, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmo ...

cycling team. In 2009, he was signed up as director of the newly formed

Team Sky Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the National Cycl ...

, 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, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

' 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. I ...

Critérium du Dauphiné The Critérium du Dauphiné, before 2010 known as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, is an annual cycling road race in the Dauphiné region in the southeast of France. The race is run over eight days during the first half of June. It is part ...

and the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

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 Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 22 July. The Tour consisted of 21 stages, inc ...

was heavily criticised by

Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Isle of Man, Manx professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialises in the Madison (cycling), madison, po ...

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 Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' 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 that his exit was linked to the team's new requirement that all employees sign a declaration pledging no previous involvement in doping. After a year away from the sport, Yates took the position of

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 The British Cycling Premier Calendar Road Race Series is a season-long competition run by British Cycling. It comprises a series of road bicycle races for the country's top domestic road riders. Organisation and events In 2010 points were awar ...

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 1 ...

. 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 Tinkoff () was a Russian-registered professional cycling team from Russia and previously Denmark. It competed in the UCI World Tour. The team was owned by Russian Oleg Tinkov and, from 1999 until March 2015, was managed by former Tour de France w ...

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 The British Cycling Hall of Fame was established in 2009 as part of British Cycling's 50th anniversary celebrations. On 17 December 2009, the names of fifty one people involved in cycling to be inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame wer ...

. 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 Les Useres () (known in Spanish as Useras () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian community, ''comarca'' of Alcalatén in the Valencian Community, Spain. In August 2007, 120 residents had to be evacuated as ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where he was living as of June 2020.

Major results

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

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

::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

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 Hou ...

: 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 the S ...

;1984 : 1st Bristol : 1st Prologue

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk (french: Quatre Jours de Dunkerque) 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 h ...

: 3rd Overall

Tour of Sweden The Tour of Sweden (or Postgirot Open) was an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's f ...

;1985 : 2nd

Nice–Alassio Nice–Alassio was a professional one-day road cycling race Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, ...

;1986 : 1st Stage 2

;1987 : 1st Grand Prix de Cannes : 1st Stage 3

Nissan Classic The Tour of Ireland (Irish: Turas na hÉireann, known from 1985 to 1992 as the Nissan Classic) was a bicycle stage race held in August, which ran for 35 editions over a 56-year period. Irish rider Seán Kelly recorded the most wins, four. Th ...

: 8th

;1988 : 1st Stage 6

: 1st Stage 12

: 1st Stage 1

: 1st Stage 5

Grand Prix du Midi Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation cou ...

: 4th Overall

;1989 : 1st Jersey red

Overall

::1st Stages 1a & 1b : 1st

: 1st Prologue

Ronde van Nederland The Tour of the Netherlands ''(Dutch: Ronde van Nederland)'' was a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948. It's an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005, it was replaced by the Enec ...

: 2nd

;1990 : 3rd Overall

: 3rd

Trofeo Baracchi The Trofeo Baracchi was a major Italian cycling race that ran for 50 years. It was created by Mino Baracchi, in memory of his father Angelo who was a great cycle racing fan. Originally (from 1941) an amateur individual time trial, from 1944 it wa ...

;1991 : 1st Stage 5 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 4 ;1992 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Road Championships ;1993 : 1st Stage 3 Tour du Pont : 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 'Monuments' or classics of the ...

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

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

: 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 British male cyclists English male cyclists Olympic cyclists of 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