Who are those Giro monsters that you think Yates needs to up his level significantly to beat? There's Vingegaard, there's Almeida (but he clearly had fitness/health problems so being at his best is far from certain, Yates will be a co-leader). Yates should be at least on par with other strong guys making him a strong podium candidate.
Almeida if fit. Then I would also rate Pellizzari, Arensman and Gall higher.
There are also several other riders I would rate similarly like Storer, Hindley, Carapaz, maybe Landa.
Of course, if Yates returns to his 23/24 summer level he would be a podium favourite, but I have not seen an indication of that yet.