Visma | Lease a Bike sports director explains reason behind sudden career stop Simon Yates

The cycling news of the week was the sudden departure of Simon Yates. The Brit, who still had an ongoing contract with Visma | Lease a Bike, announced that he is ending his career with immediate effect. Sports director Jesper Morkov, present at Yates' Giro victory, is looking to Feltet for an explanation.

Yates announced his quitting rather abruptly with a statement on social media. 'Dear all, I have decided to end my professional cycling career. This may come as a surprise to many, but it is not a decision I took lightly. I have thought about it for a long time and now it feels like the right time to step away from the sport,' the Brit said.

In doing so, he also took the opportunity to thank his last team, Visma | Lease a Bike, thus. 'For your understanding and support for my decision to stop now. You gave me the chance to rewrite my story, and thanks to trust we did it together. Thank you,' stated the winner of the last Giro d'Italia.

On behalf of the Dutch team, sports manager Grischa Niermann already came out with a comment. 'With Simon we won the Giro d'Italia last year, a huge result for both him and the team. That was one of the big goals of the season, for us as a team and for Simon personally. That he also managed to win a stage in the Tour de France in addition to that, underlines his class.'

'It is unfortunate that he is stopping now, but he is doing so at an absolute peak,' the German stated. 'Simon was an exceptional climber and classification rider who was always there at the moments that mattered. In the Giro, he peaked exactly at a moment when hardly anyone expected him to win, something that typifies him as a rider.'

Jesper Morkov was one of Yates' team leaders at the Giro. 'First of all, it's unfortunate, but that's the way it is. I won't elaborate on it, but as I understand it, he's the one who has lost his motivation. It's something that has been discussed a lot in recent years: it takes a lot to be at the absolute top, and it's really hard. Simon has been in cycling for years, and now his will has waned a bit," the Dane indicated.

'It was great to work with Simon,' Morkov said at Feltet. 'He is an incredibly nice guy and he is really good, not only in terms of strength, but also tactically. During the Giro he made some very smart tactical decisions. When people comment that he's in some unusual places in the peloton, it's actually for a reason, because he saw something in the race.'