Adam Yates heard from the other side of the world how brother Simon made his decision

Simon Yates still had a one-year contract with Visma | Lease a Bike, but chose to have it dissolved so he could enjoy retirement earlier than planned. The decision was met with praise inside the Dutch team, and Adam says he fully supports his brother’s choice too. Speaking to media in Oman, he explained: “If you’re not happy doing something, then it’s better to stop than to prolong the suffering,” he told Cyclingnews.

Even if the news came as a surprise to the outside world, Adam suggests it did not come completely out of nowhere within the family. “He spoke to me a couple of times [about retiring]. Obviously I was in Australia and he was in Europe so with the time zone it was quite tricky to talk,” he said. “But he was saying not feeling it, not motivated, and that’s it.”

“If you're not happy with what you're doing, it's better to stop,” says Adam Yates, who still has a contract with UAE until the end of 2028 and is currently riding the Tour of Oman. He already finished second in the Muscat Classic in the opening stage of that stage race. So the climber is still enjoying himself, but Simon Yates is no longer.

“I still enjoy it and as long as that's the case, I'll continue for as long as I can. Simon didn't enjoy it anymore, it's as simple as that. If you're satisfied with what you've achieved in your career, you can say goodbye with a good feeling. We've been in this sport for a long time. I turned pro in 2014, so that's already 11 or 12 years.”

“That's a long time, because we were already riding bikes when we were 8 or 9 years old. At some point, you get tired of something and then you have to return to normal life. For me, it's not surprising that he won't be in the peloton anymore. We've been riding in different teams for a while now, and he's enjoying life.”