Until Simon Yates made the surprise decision to retire before the start of the 2026 season, his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Ben Tulett did not have a Tour de France debut on his calendar. However, since the Giro d'Italia winner hung up his bike, that has opened doors for the 24-year-old Tulett.
Speaking to Wielerflits, Tulett explained how Yates' decision changed the trajectory of his season.
"Simon is a rider that I've looked up to my whole career - he's achieved so much in this sport. Congratulations to him. I was really happy to have been a teammate of his for one year, and to have learned a lot from him during that time."
Yates made the announcement that he was retiring at age 33 on January 7, and Tulett said, "It was also a big shock for the team and, of course, the riders in the team as well.
"We had a plan for 2026, already with Simon as a part of those plans. That's now changed, so it looks like there's definitely some changes coming to my calendar, personally. So that's also exciting. One door closes, another one opens - take the opportunities where they come."
Tulett will start his season at the Vuelta a Andalucía Ruta del Sol, with Strade Bianche, Itzulia Basque Country, and the Ardennes Classics on his schedule, too. Although a return to the Vuelta a España, where he finished 24th overall while helping Jonas Vingegaard to the overall victory, was on his calendar, that could change.
He has been provisionally listed on the Tour de France roster alongside Jonas Vingegaard, Sepp Kuss, Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson, with Victor Campenaerts, Christophe Laporte and Bruno Armirail also likely on the team.
The Tour de France, Tulett said, "Is definitely a possibility, and it's something that if it does happen, we'll be there and we'll be ready to race. That's also something really exciting and motivating."
Tulett has shown his stage racing talent with the overall victory in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali last March and a podium in the Tour de l'Ain behind then-teammate Cian Uijtdebroeks last year. He also won the Tour of Norway in 2023 while racing with Ineos.
Despite his talent and racing at the highest level since turning pro with Alpecin-Fenix in 2020, Tulett has only competed in two Grand Tours - the Vuelta last year and the Giro d'Italia in 2022 - racing as a contender in these high profile races is his career goal.
"My long-term objective is to target the GC in the Grand Tours. I want to be competitive when I pin the number on, and of course, I want to win races, so that has to be the priority. Every time there's an opportunity to win, I want to be there and take those opportunities."
Tulett should get plenty of chances to follow up on that promise as he's been named to Visma-Lease a Bike's 'white jersey group' - a list of 11 under-25 riders the team is committed to developing.
"I think it's definitely a really nice project from the team to develop the younger riders in this team into doing the bigger races and trying to win the biggest races in the WorldTour program. If you look at the history of it, it's worked very well, and we can learn a lot from it."
With the departure of Yates and, last year, Uijtdebroeks, Tulett and his young teammates have a couple of pairs of shoes to fill, too.
"I believe in the next years I can get the best out of myself here as a rider. Of course, that brings a lot of trust - trust from the team, and trusting myself as well. So yeah, that's what we focus on and just keep building step by step."
