Sepp Kuss says Simon Yates’ retirement is strangely not so surprising and warns about Vingegaard

Yates announced in early January that he was immediately ending his active career. He still had a one-year contract with Visma | Lease a Bike, but after winning the Giro d’Italia overall and taking a stage win in the subsequent Tour de France, he decided he had had enough after last season. “With great pride and a feeling of peace I say goodbye to professional cycling,” he said at the time.

Within Visma | Lease a Bike, the news was of course already known slightly earlier, and there was high praise for Yates and his decision. Kuss also called him “a nice guy,” although he saw it coming a bit. “If you know him, it’s not so strange. Simon lives in his own way, and the thought of stopping has probably crossed his mind before.”

“It came as a surprise, and it’s a shame that we lose him in our Tour plans, but we have to go on without him,” Kuss said, who will do both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France alongside Jonas Vingegaard. “A beautiful challenge,” said the American climber, who has so often been part of a winning Grand Tour squad — and who won the Vuelta a España himself in 2023.

The focus is first on the Giro, where Vingegaard is set to debut and hopes to complete his Grand Tour trilogy after his two overall wins in the Tour and his Vuelta title in 2025. If the opportunity arises, Kuss himself would also like to shine in the Giro. “A Giro stage is one of the few things I still miss in my career. If the chance comes, I’d like to grab it.”

There is a saying that a change of scenery whets the appetite, and according to Kuss, Vingegaard has more hunger than before with the Giro on his calendar. “He’s more motivated than in previous years when his schedule was always the same. If things didn’t go well toward the Tour, it felt like you’d lost the whole year.”

“His Giro participation will take a lot of pressure off and place the Tour in a different perspective,” Kuss predicts. “Jonas already wanted to go to the Giro last year, but it wasn’t easy for the team. The Tour is the most important race for everyone, and then a Giro participation comes with risks. But he’s motivated, and it’s good that he’s taking on other challenges and stepping out of his comfort zone.”

In the Giro, Vingegaard will face João Almeida and UAE Emirates-XRG, just as he did in the 2025 Vuelta, before he takes on Tadej Pogacar and Isaac Del Toro in the Tour. Kuss also recognizes that UAE is a team to beat, but he still believes in Visma | Lease a Bike. “We have a very close team, with young riders who in a few years will race with the best.”

Kuss calls Pogacar “frightening,” but also “motivating.” Because beating the very best rider of his generation — and maybe in history — is what they all at Visma | Lease a Bike get up every day for.