State of the Peloton 2026

[Netserk]

my first thought was a doping related health scare

 

[Shakes]

I thought I read he was looking forward to have the number one jersey in the Giro. If I remember correctly, weird for him to retire in January but we'll never know.

He won a very entertaining Giro so kudos to him.

 

[Rob5091]

I thought I read he was looking forward to have the number one jersey in the Giro. If I remember correctly, weird for him to retire in January but we'll never know.

He won a very entertaining Giro so kudos to him.

December 5,2025 at Giro route announcement for 2026 -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...making-behind-the-scenes-a-lot-of-discussions

"There are still some decisions to be made behind the scenes by the team on whether I’ll be here or not, but I would love to defend it,” added the Brit. “I have to say there’s a lot of decision-making behind the scenes, a lot of discussions. I would love to be here, but it’s not fully my decision.”

The main uncertainty for Yates now revolves around Jonas Vingegaard. The two-time Tour de France winner has spoken about wanting to complete the set of Grand Tours, and a Giro debut in 2026 remains possible. Yates made clear that Vingegaard’s ambitions are a central factor in Visma’s planning for next season.
“This is all part of the discussions in what would happen and also what that would do for my year, with the Tour de France too,” he said. “So, a lot of discussions happening all last week with the team, a lot of meetings every day, quite exhausting. But we’re getting to the finer details now, so hopefully you guys can have some real information soon.”

So is it just Vingegaard getting the green light for the Giro, and Yates thought, ok, I'm out of here? Odd as his last race was in September in Canada so plenty of time to sort out retirement plans etc. so the sudden change to ex-rider now does not seem logical.

 

[yaco]

Unfortunately announcing his retirement is exactly one of the options that would be considered if he did get popped. As I wrote before, we will probably never know one way or another, but waiting until January is unusual.

You post lots in this forum, YET, you fail to understand there is no team announcement congratulating the rider if they have committed an anti-doping violation.

 

[yaco]

Yo, definitely. Either that or something came back positive from the Giro. I'm not sure how long it takes to test everything in the Giro but the Tour for example I believe the results can often be delayed until the first part of the following year. I read about that a few years ago.



Absolutely yes. Of course. Since he won a GT with them. Maybe they weren't even informed of the positive and just rolled with Yates' retirement decision. It can be mutually inclusive with getting popped.

Bottom line, I'm not inclined to assert with confidence that what I'm reading regarding Simon Yates retiring is the truth (especially so suddenly when he claimed he'd been thinking about it for a while, i.e. reminiscent of how Dumoulin suddenly quit Jumbo Visma's training camp and took a 'break' back in 2001).

The team is notified at the same time as the rider, so there goes your theory.

 

[Rob5091]

You post lots in this forum, YET, you fail to understand there is no team announcement congratulating the rider if they have committed an anti-doping violation.

A publicly known "violation" yes, but Visma only put out a thanks for everything post and Yates himself posted the retirement statement.

 

[Rackham]

The team is notified at the same time as the rider, so there goes your theory.

You seem pretty strident in enforcing the official version for a rider who's already had a doping suspension in his career.

Forgive some of us for side eying the world of pro cycling and its denizens when something unexpected and slightly illogical happens (such as Yates quitting at a relatively inopportune moment for Visma since the transfer market closed and pre-season preparation is in full swing).

 

[veganrob]

Pulled a hammy playing tennis. Decides to retire.

 

[yaco]

A publicly known "violation" yes, but Visma only put out a thanks for everything post and Yates himself posted the retirement statement.

Name me a team that has congratulated a rider when they suffer a anti-doping violation? You may as well as question every rider who retired from the pleton in the last 12 months if you want to be consistent.

 

[yaco]

You seem pretty strident in enforcing the official version for a rider who's already had a doping suspension in his career.

Forgive some of us for side eying the world of pro cycling and its denizens when something unexpected and slightly illogical happens (such as Yates quitting at a relatively inopportune moment for Visma since the transfer market closed and pre-season preparation is in full swing).

Mine is a fact based post. What team in their right mind gives a glowing endorsement of a retiring rider if they have an anti-doping violation.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Name me a team that has congratulated a rider when they suffer a anti-doping violation? You may as well as question every rider who retired from the pleton in the last 12 months if you want to be consistent.

I guess they are assuming that it goes like this.

Yates test positive. Visma and Yates are notified

Visma and Yates agree with UCI that Yates will retire immediately and as a result of this, the positive is not announced and swept under the rug.

As a result of this Yates and visma put out statements, knowing the news of the positive will never come out.

I personally don't believe this is what happened, but given that we know an Armstrong positive was swept under the rug, and that the froome stuff was never supposed to come out, I understand why some people are making this argument.

If it's clinic related I think it's just a case of Yates not wanting to play the game anymore. Also think it's more likely a health scare than a secret positive.

 

[Rob5091]

The guys under contract for 2026, he does the new kit photo in December, then in January he decides to retire with immediate effect.
One day we might hear the real reason.

(Portuguese cyclist António Carvalho received a four-year ban from the UCI for Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) irregularities spanning 2018-2024, so I would not be surprised if it was some old dirt.)

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Name me a team that has congratulated a rider when they suffer a anti-doping violation? You may as well as question every rider who retired from the pleton in the last 12 months if you want to be consistent.

Visma played along to make this retirement story more believable. Its for their own good. No team wants to be linked with a top rider who doped. Too many doubts would arise around the team in the coming season. Obviously its just speculation but this is not standard retirement news, the timing is totally off.

 

[veganrob]

Mine is a fact based post. What team in their right mind gives a glowing endorsement of a retiring rider if they have an anti-doping violation.

Yeah because Visma is just the cleanest team. Or was that Sky?

 

[Rob5091]

"Not completely clean" is the starting point for the new year!
Oscar Onley -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...aive-as-he-chases-grand-tour-dream-with-ineos

“I believe the sport’s come a long way in the past 10 to 15 years,” Onley said. “I also don’t believe it’s completely clean. I think it’s quite naive to think it’s clean throughout the whole world, but I think it’s in a better place than it was before I started cycling.”

Ben Healy -
https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/ben-healy-tour-cycling-ireland-36490741

Last year’s race was the fastest in its long and flawed history – faster than at the height of the Lance Armstrong era – raising eyebrows again after decades of doping scandals. Despite progress in recent years, cheating is still a problem in the sport. “In any sport I think it’s impossible to go, ‘Oh yeah, the sport is 100% clean,” says Healy.

 

[HashRouge]

I guess they are assuming that it goes like this.

Yates test positive. Visma and Yates are notified

Visma and Yates agree with UCI that Yates will retire immediately and as a result of this, the positive is not announced and swept under the rug.

As a result of this Yates and visma put out statements, knowing the news of the positive will never come out.

I personally don't believe this is what happened, but given that we know an Armstrong positive was swept under the rug, and that the froome stuff was never supposed to come out, I understand why some people are making this argument.

If it's clinic related I think it's just a case of Yates not wanting to play the game anymore. Also think it's more likely a health scare than a secret positive.

Would it really be kept secret? It seems like it would come out one way or another, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Rob5091]

Would it really be kept secret? It seems like it would come out one way or another, but maybe I'm wrong.

Lots of examples of things that never were supposed to be publicly known, Froome's case, 23 chinese swimmers, but we know ITA are going after info and doping networks and not just solitary guys. UCI don't get the bad publicity and Visma and the sponsors (Rabobank ....) carry on although they should be really upset.