It's hard to think of a worse time for a cycling team to lose a key rider than just seven days into a new year and season, but that's the situation which Visma-Lease a Bike found them in after Simon Yates announced he was retiring last week.
A two-time Grand Tour winner, reigning Giro d'Italia champion, and a key cog in the climbing train for team leader Jonas Vingegaard, a surprising end to the Brit's career means Visma have been forced to adapt calendars and redesign a 2026 plan that had included Yates.
As Visma congregated for their team presentation and media day in La Nucia on Tuesday, Yates' retirement was on everyone's mind, and cropped up as a question for each rider and member of staff who made themselves available to interview.
Just how did it unfold? Was it expected? How was the news communicated to the riders? What do they do now with a Simon Yates-sized hole in their squad depth?
All very important questions, and Visma's head of racing, Grischa Niermann, and CEO, Richard Plugge, were more than prepared to field them, and certainly more prepared than they were for when Yates came to them over the Christmas period and informed them he wanted his time in the sport to end.
"I think in cycling, my motto is that there is always something, so there is never a dull moment, and unfortunately, we had already done the planning with Jacco [Verhaeren, head of coaching] since September for this year 2026," said Niermann.
"By the end of November and into early December, we had it all fixed and settled and we were talking to all the riders. All these plans included Simon still, but he came up to us in the Christmas period that he wants to end his career, he wants to stop.
"We have to respect that, we do accept that and we are grateful that he won a great Giro d'Italia for us last year. But it also means that we have to adapt some of the plans and find a solution, but we will find it."
Specifically, when it comes to the adaptations, Yates was due to be a leader at Paris-Nice in March, and he was set to race the Tour de France in support of Vingegaard, as he did in 2025 en route to the Dane finishing second overall, while also winning a stage of his own.
Having to change well-thought-out plans is nothing new in cycling, given the frequency of injuries and crashes, teams have always had to adapt – something Niermann knows all too well with his big stars Vingegaard and Wout van Aert suffering several big crashes in the past two years – but it's the January timing which has hurt Visma most.
"It was, of course, very surprising news. On the other hand, there were a few days that we could adapt a little bit when we thought that it's probably what he's going to come up with," added Niermann. "But still surprising and unfortunate news for us.
"I think for Simon, he thought about it for a long time, he took a decision, and then we have to accept it, and we do accept it, and we should wish him all the best. But it was not on our bingo card before Christmas.
"In cycling, you always have to adapt to and make new plans. We made plans in the offseason period, also with Simon, and he was totally behind it. We don't have to adapt all the plans, but at the races Simon was going to.
"Certainly, we need somebody else for the Tour de France, and he was our leader for Paris-Nice, for example. We have to decide now, how do we tackle these things? But most likely it will also again happen somewhere in the year that somebody gets injured or has a crash or is sick, and we have to adapt the plans again. So in the end, that's also part of my job, part of our job."
Niermann expressed how the team "never had these talks with him," about retirement, highlighting the surprise factor, however, when the 33-year-old came to him and Plugge, there was no trying to convince him otherwise – the decision was obviously final.
"It was quite clear. Also in the end, at least when I speak for myself, I'm more happy that he takes this decision and says, 'OK, I want to stop', rather than he finds out in two or three months that he cannot bring it up mentally anymore," said Niermann.
"If somebody calls you and says, 'I want to retire', what are you going to say – Don't do it? It doesn't work," added Plugge. "He will have thought about it, and he did, of course, and we know him also as someone who thinks a lot about things, and then came with his own idea – [there's] no sleepless nights [for me], it is what it is."
'Irreplaceable'
Yates leaving the team is a complex headache, with the timing and calibre of rider he is making it impossible to replace what he brings, especially in the non-existent window they had to bring someone new in with the season just about to start in Australia.
Even with what's been an abnormal transfer period, with big names such as Oscar Onley and Derek Gee-West making late moves well into December in January, trying to sign anyone – let alone a top GC rider – after January 7 just isn't going to happen.
The best riders and talents are all snapped up, and on long contracts, and rider transfers are getting established earlier and earlier, even with the traditional August 1 UCI registration period opening date. These factors in mind, it was impossible for Visma's management to hide their disappointment.
"He's irreplaceable, also because we can't [replace him] at the moment even if we wanted to, but we have a very strong team and we are 100% confident we will have a great season without Simon," said Niermann, who stated how at their December training camp that "everything was OK".
"It was the beginning of January, and if I know the rules correctly, then the first moment we could sign a rider who has a contract with another team is August 1. So for now, there's no possibility to replace him, and there's also not a rider on the market to replace Simon Yates.
"Of course, it would have been better if he would have told us in September or something like that," added CEO Plugge. "But we can't dwell on that for a very long time; it is what it is. He called over the Christmas period, we had a discussion, or not a discussion, but it was a good talk, and it was a clear message."
How the riders reacted
All the responses from Yates' now former teammates were full of admiration for his decision, even with it forcing the change of some plans, and it was no surprise to hear Vingegaard's full support, given his open words about the potential for burnout in cycling in the past.
In the immediate wake of Yates' announcement, as the search for a reason floated around the cycling world, Visma coach Jesper Mørkøv shed some light on the situation to Feltet that "as I understand it, he lost his desire." Based on Vingegaard's words, this does seem to have been the case.
"Of course, it's a very big loss for us. It's very unfortunate – he was going to play a really important role in the Tour, but I also have a lot of respect for his decision, because I think it doesn't come from nothing," Vingegaard told reporters on Tuesday.
"I mean, he lost his motivation, and the sport is also very hard to be in. Also, for me, sometimes I've also been close to burning out; it is tough with all the altitude camps and everything, and I know his programme from last year, so I also understand that it was very hard for him, and then he makes this decision.
"I have a lot of respect for him, because he knows how to say that when he feels that it's enough, then he is going to stop."
The team were well questioned on whether there could be some blame that lies with the team, linking the early retirement of Tom Dumoulin in 2022, Yates' announcement, and the comments Vingegaard's wife Trine had made in the summer about how hard the riders are being worked at Visma.
"I wouldn't give the team the fault. I mean, it's also up to us riders to say it as well, to say it out loud to the team 'Listen, this is too much for me. I can't handle it, and we need to change something'," said Vingegaard.
"But, yes, obviously it is true that they are also demanding a lot from us. And as I said, of course, it's hard to say to the team 'I can't do this'. But, I think that's what Simon does now, he thinks about himself, and that's what he needed to do."
The riders were very open about the Yates situation, with speculation surrounding why Yates stopped and whether anyone saw it coming, of course, swirling around the group in their first camp of the new year.
"Grischa gave me a call a few nights ago, and he just told me that they had gotten word from Simon that he was retiring and that they were gonna have to think through how the changes would happen," explained Matteo Jorgenson.
"I don't judge people for the decisions they make, and I actually come away from it with even more respect for him, because I know that it's a decision that wasn't easy. I can only imagine.
"I'm sure he has good reasons, and you can only know someone's experience when you're the one living it, so I think for him, I just applaud that he was willing to take a hard decision and be confident with it, and I can't do more than that."
Jorgenson highlighted the Brit's professionalism during his one season with him, even in the immediate aftermath of his emotional Giro d'Italia victory, where he buried seven-year-old demons on the same climb which lost him the race in 2018 to Chris Froome in dramatic fashion.
"It's not like Simon was talking about it last year, or was something that was on his mind – I mean at least publicly or with us, probably with his intimate circle and the people that he's close with, it was something he talked about," added Jorgenson.
"But he was very professional last year, and he was always very present in all the races and training camps that I was with him at, and as far as the communication I have with my teammates now, we just talk about, 'Were you surprised by it?, Did you get any feeling that he was already checked out or anything?' And none of us really can, because he was so professional, and was really the full Simon Yates in every race that he was at."
With the situation explained by Visma's staff and riders, it's now clear that this was as much of a shock internally as it was externally, with Yates' going from fully in with the plans in December to out of the sport by January.
Of course, one voice missing from the explanation is from the man himself, but that will surely come with time as the dust settles from the Brit's exit from the sport. For now, though, Visma – weakened in depth as they are – must move on without him.
