UAE Team Emirates-XRG's hopes of a second consecutive Giro-d'Italia title were ended by Simon Yates's sensational ride on the race's penultimate day.
Mexican Isaac del Toro was 43 seconds ahead of Richard Carapaz – and 81 seconds clear of Yates – going into Saturday's Stage 20 and looked set to follow up Tadej Pogacar's unforgettable win last year with anther victory for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
But Visma-Lease a Bike's Yates had not read the script after overhauling Del Toro with a brave solo attack on the gruelling 20km Colle delle Finistre climb, finishing the stage third behind winner Chris Harper and second place Alessandro Verre.
Yates now only has to cross the line intact in Rome to win his second Grand Tour – after the 2018 Vuelta a Espana – ahead of second-place Del Toro and Carapaz in third with the final stage largely a procession around the Italian capital and Vatican City.
In 2018, Yates saw his dreams of winning the Giro crumble on the Colle delle Finestre climb when Chris Froome's attack left him far behind.
But this time he redeemed himself on the same climb to take the lead and Del Toro did not respond even as the cavalry arrived in the form of Wout van Aert, who helped Yates power to the finish.
Ultimately, Del Toro knew he had lost his chance and the 21-year-old eventually crossed the line more than five minutes behind Yates who was in tears after crossing the line.
Yates had lost 30 seconds to Del Toro during Friday's stage but fought back in stunning fashion, and will become the third British rider to win the Giro, after Froome (2018) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (2020).
It capped a tough few days for UAE Team Emirates who had seen young Spanish star Juan Ayuso quit the race after being stung in the eye by a bee.
Del Toro, 21, had won Stage 17 and was bidding to become the youngest winner of the Giro since 1940.
“When the route was released I always had in the back of my mind to try to do something here and close the chapter, let’s say,” said an emotional Yates, who leads Del Toro by three minutes 56 seconds. “I’m still a bit speechless really.
“I maybe look relaxed but I also had doubts this morning, if I could really do something, but the guys they encouraged me and believed in me, so yeah, thanks to them.
“I'm not really an emotional person but I couldn't hold back the tears. It's something I've worked towards year after year and I've had a lot of setbacks but I've finally managed to pull if off.”
Yates ended up finishing the stage just under two minutes behind Harper, who claimed the biggest win of his career at the age of 30 after attacking from the break on the Finestre.
“I don't know what I'm happier about, winning the stage or seeing Yates win pink,” said Harper, who rode with the likely Giro winner at Jayco-AlUla.
“He's an awesome guy and I had the pleasure of riding with him for a couple of seasons and doing a lot of racing with him. I don't think anyone deserves the pink jersey more than him.”
Del Toro spent most of the Finestre ascent just staying on Carapaz's wheel and ended up unable to bridge the gap to Yates, handing over the pink jersey he had held since Stage 9.
“We might have been the strongest, but we weren't the cleverest,” said Carapaz, who was critical of Del Toro's passive performance in the decisive stage of his first Grand Tour.
“In the end, he's lost the Giro, he didn't know how to race well and the cleverest rider won.”
The final stage will honour the late Pope Francis with an unprecedented ride through the Vatican, and new Pope Leo XIV will greet the cyclists as they pass through.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Scoreline:
Everton 4
Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)
Match info:
Burnley 0
Manchester United 2
Lukaku (22', 44')
Red card: Marcus Rashford (Man United)
Man of the match: Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)
