Among the hot topics discussed during the Team Visma Lease a Bike media day, alongside the programs of various yellow-jersey riders, was the surprising retirement of Simon Yates, announced like a bolt from the blue on January 7th and immediately becoming a topic of debate in the cycling world.

On this matter, on the day the Belgian team opened its doors to journalists, several team representatives were consulted, including the new acquisition Owain Doull, who more than anyone else provided some new insights, revealing how his compatriot, as well as the last winner of the Giro d'Italia, was already hinting at the possibility of leaving cycling during the concluding stage of the 2025 Giro.

"I was with him on the last stage of the Giro and I said congrats to him. I said I would have preferred it if Richard [Carapaz] had won but if I wanted anyone else to win it it would have been him so I was super happy for him" he told Cyclingweekly.

"he kind of said to me back then, ‘To be honest, I think this might be me done’. I asked what he meant and he said, ‘I think I might just stop here. It’s not going to get any better than this. He then went to the Tour [de France] and other races but I think it was always in the back of his mind. Obviously I saw him at the December [Visma] camp as well, and he was getting ready for the season and he seemed happy and motivated, but I think that overriding feeling of wanting to stop was a big thing and I have to say chapeau. He’s also getting paid a lot of money to race his bike and he’s saying, ‘Actually, no, I’ll pass on that. I want to finish at the highest level" explained the thirty-two-year-old from Cardiff before offering his explanation for the reasons that, when combined, might have led Yates to no longer have the strength to continue cycling.

"It’s a lot of sacrifice, a lot of risk, a lot of time away, especially when you’ve been doing it at Simon’s level for so, so long. For those top guys, the level of commitment, scrutiny, and dedication they’re under is a lot. I just think chapeau for not just taking the cheque and doing nothing and instead finishing when he was ready to finish. I think that’s admirable" concluded Doull, who perhaps, in light of the statements collected in May, was much less surprised by Yates' decision than Matteo Jorgenson.

"With the other teammates, we wondered if we had the feeling that he had already given up or something like that, but none of us could really answer 'yes' because last year he was very professional, gave his all in every race he participated in and was always present at all the training camps I attended with him," admitted the American rider.

"Probably it was with his intimate circle and the people he was close with it was something he talked about. I don’t judge people for the decisions they make and I actually come away with it with even more respect for him because I know it’s a hard decision that he was willing to take and be confident with it. I am sure he has good reasons" stated Jorgenson, whose position was then substantially aligned with that of Team Visma Lease a Bike CEO Richard Plugge.

"He will have thought about it and he did and we also know him as someone who thinks a lot about things and then comes up with a good idea, his own idea, so I knew when he called me he knew he had had enough" said the head of the Belgian team.

"IIt’s very sad that he left us, but on the other hand, like Vingegaard said, we have respect for the way he did it. He said I want to quit, I want to retire, I want to leave, and that’s his choice. Of course it would have been better if he told us in September but we can’t dwell on that for a very long time. It is what it is and we have to adapt to it" concluded the top yellow-jersey executive, between realism and disappointment.