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'I've been close to burning out' - Vingegaard respects Simon Yates' retirement decision

Speaking at Visma | Lease a Bike's media day on Tuesday, Jonas Vingegaard expressed understanding for Simon Yates' surprise retirement, while management revealed that they had only learned of his intentions over Christmas.

January 13 2026 - 7:10 PM

Simon Yates Jonas Vingegaard Tour de France 2025

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Jonas Vingegaard has acknowledged that Simon Yates’ surprise retirement will be a “big loss” for Visma | Lease a Bike, but he added that he could understand his reasons for hanging up his wheels.

Speaking at the Visma media day in La Nucia on Tuesday, Vingegaard admitted that he had also come close to suffering from burnout due to the increasing demands of WorldTour racing.

“It’s a very big loss for us, it’s very unfortunate that we lose him now,” Vingegaard said, according to Feltet. “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 didn’t come from nothing. He lost his motivation, and the sport is also very hard to be in.

“I think for everyone it’s a very demanding sport, also for me. I’ve also been close to burning out, because 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 that he made this decision. I have a lot of respect for him. When he feels that it’s enough, then he’s going to stop.”

While Dylan van Baarle recently suggested that Visma’s onerous training demands had contributed to Yates’ retirement, Vingegaard refused to point the finger at his team.

“I don’t want to blame the team, it’s also up to us riders to tell the team if it’s too much and you can’t handle it, and that we have to change something,” Vingegaard said. “They also demand a lot from us, so it’s of course difficult to tell the team that you can’t do this. That’s also what Simon is doing now. He’s thinking about himself – and he has to do that.”

Yates joined Visma last year after spending his entire career at GreenEdge, and he made an immediate impression by winning the Giro d’Italia in his debut season with his new team. He would go on to win a stage of the Tour de France at Le Mont-Dor.

The Briton was due to skip his Giro title defence in 2026 with a view to playing a key role on behalf of Vingegaard at the Tour. Vingegaard confirmed on Tuesday that he will target victory at both the Giro and Tour in 2026, but Yates’ retirement leaves a significant gap in his supporting cast in July.

Visma Head of Racing Grischa Niermann confirmed that Yates’ 2026 racing programme had already been drawn up by the time he informed the team of his intention to retire with immediate effect. Yates had been earmarked to ride Paris-Nice in March as team leader.

“It was during the Christmas period when Yates spoke about his wish to stop, even though the plan for the 2026 season had been made for him,” Niermann said, according to La Dernière Heure. “The team wanted to respect his choice, even if we had to revise some plans.”