Sean Yates

Career

Yates competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, finishing sixth in the 4,000m individual pursuit. As an amateur in 1980, he won the British 25-mile individual time trial 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 with fellow British riders John Herety 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. Yates won fifteen races in total for the ACBB and also finished third in the prestigious individual time trial Grand Prix des Nations which was won by Martial Gayant. Yates had develeoped a reputation as a strong time trialist and for an incredible turn of speed and power. He turned professional in 1982 for Peugeot riding alongside Graham Jones, Phil Anderson, Robert Millar and Stephen Roche. He stayed with Peugeot for six seasons and became British professional individual pursuit champion in 1982 and 1983.

In 1988 riding for Fagor, he won the sixth stage of the Tour de France, a 52 km time-trial, beating Roberto Visentini by 14 seconds and Tony Rominger by 23 seconds. That year he also won a stage at the Vuelta a España, Paris–Nice, Midi-Libre and finished fourth overall in the Tour of Britain.

In 1989 he joined the American team, 7-Eleven and took two stages and overall victory in the Tour of Belgium, won the Grand Prix Eddy Merckx and finished second in Gent–Wevelgem. In 1991 Yates then moved to Motorola, where he rode with Lance Armstrong. 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 to wear the maillot jaune.

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 steroids 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 Lance Armstrong.

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 Lance Armstrong. In June 2007, Yates was manager of Team Discovery a USA team and, in 2008, went on to manage riders on the Astana 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 Tour de France winner. Yates spent three years as the team's lead Director Sportif and, in 2012, presided over Bradley Wiggins victories in Paris–Nice, Tour de Romandie, Critérium du Dauphiné, Tour de France and the Olympic Time Trial. However, his race support during the 2012 Tour de France was heavily criticised by Mark Cavendish who described Yates as "cold, uninspiring and miserly in praise."

In October 2012, he left the employment of Team Sky and retired from cycling, with The Daily Telegraph 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, in October 2013 it emerged that Yates had agreed to take 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. He is also involved in coaching the Catford CC-Equipe Banks under-23 team, which includes his son Liam on its roster. In November 2014 he was announced by Team Tinkoff-Saxo as one of their sports directors for the 2015 season.

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, but he still competes at regional events, primarily in the Southeast. Yates currently plays football for Old St Marys Football Club as a goalkeeper in Amateur Football Combination.

In 2009, he was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame.