Team Visma LAB

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Man, peoples be touchy.

 

[pastronef]

Yup.
Also, there's so much talk about mental health in professional cycling and sports in general, then an athlete calls it quits before burning out and he's deemed unprofessional. Or worse someone who belongs in the clinic. I don't get it.

true

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Please connect use of a bronchial dilator in @2015, 2016 with made up diabolical retirement plan, tough if not impossible to connect the dots.
Yates is a great, great bike racer and the level of internet ugly just grows and grows and grows. As podcasts and blogs grow like cancer, so do angles for every action of everyone, everything. There is nothing that will not birth a conspiracy theory, times a million. Everyone is searching for clicks, trying to title things to get attention.

Alternate less attractive headline

33 year old cyclist retiring after highly accomplished track and road racing career.

The question was open-ended though; "what could you possibly accuse Simon Yates of?" In that context, the fact that he has had a doping ban, no matter how inconsequential, is a material fact because it is something you can accuse him of, even if it isn't really relevant to his retirement. Jono's post doesn't purvey any conspiracy theory; it just highlights that there actually is something you can accuse Simon Yates of, regardless of whether relevant at this point in his career.

Frankly, about the second part, I think it's the reverse of what you're talking about, things like this are far more accepted than they were ten to fifteen years ago. If a two-time former GT winner with a doping suspension in his history, riding for one of the most dominant teams in the sport, retired out of nowhere on the eve of the season in 2011, you'd have seen a lot more shade being thrown at them than Yates' retirement has attracted. I'd point out that this thread is in the Clinic; if you don't want to see people raise doping stories around riders you like, then you might be in the wrong place.

Another thing is that typically at the moment riders are more successful young than they were in that era, and so are riding WT calendars at a younger age, and therefore have more miles on the clock by the time they hit their early 30s than riders used to. We may start to see this more often going forward.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Following his sudden retirement, Simon seems to have gone on a blocking spree on social media.

 

[Cookster15]

I'd point out that this thread is in the Clinic; if you don't want to see people raise doping stories around riders you like, then you might be in the wrong place.

You are right. But if people disagree with doping accusations and insinuations they are free to challenge those views here using facts, logic and reason. That's why this forum exists.

 

[Squire]

Another thing is that typically at the moment riders are more successful young than they were in that era, and so are riding WT calendars at a younger age, and therefore have more miles on the clock by the time they hit their early 30s than riders used to. We may start to see this more often going forward.

Completely agree. I (and tons of others, so it's not like I've invented the wheel here) have been saying this for quite some time. I expect a rather early decline and retirement from Pogacar, and he's even started insinuating that himself lately. It feels like a lot more riders nowadays are dropping off when the get near 30, and that has to be more down to mental fatigue than anything physical, although 'miles on the clock' might play a part physically too. Of course it's not unprecedented, we've had guys like Saronni in the past. But the amazing 1990 generation is a great example, I think. A lot of those guys were pretty much done around 2019/2020.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

You are right. But if people disagree with doping accusations and insinuations they are free to challenge those views here using facts, logic and reason. That's why this forum exists.

I think a generous amount of sense of humor should also be applied when frequenting the Clinic. I mean, why so serious when broaching the topic of doping? Plenty of my fave athletes from the past have gotten popped, you just kind of learn to laugh in despair and move on.

 

[Revelation]

Please connect use of a bronchial dilator in @2015, 2016 with made up diabolical retirement plan, tough if not impossible to connect the dots.
Yates is a great, great bike racer and the level of internet ugly just grows and grows and grows. As podcasts and blogs grow like cancer, so do angles for every action of everyone, everything. There is nothing that will not birth a conspiracy theory, times a million. Everyone is searching for clicks, trying to title things to get attention.

Alternate less attractive headline

33 year old cyclist retiring after highly accomplished track and road racing career.

Whatever you say, Simon. C'mon, spill the beans, what are they cooking up at Visma?

 

[HashRouge]

They said on the Cycling Podcast that they'd heard rumours of Simon Yates wanting to retire last summer, they just weren't sure how seriously to take them at the time. According to Daniel Friebe, he actually wanted to retire after the Giro and didn't even want to go to the Tour, but was "reminded of his obligations to the team". All in all, I'm inclined to think there isn't much drama here, other than that Simon Yates doesn't really care anymore and didn't enjoy the prescriptive regime at Visma.

 

[jono]

They said on the Cycling Podcast that they'd heard rumours of Simon Yates wanting to retire last summer, they just weren't sure how seriously to take them at the time. According to Daniel Friebe, he actually wanted to retire after the Giro and didn't even want to go to the Tour, but was "reminded of his obligations to the team". All in all, I'm inclined to think there isn't much drama here, other than that Simon Yates doesn't really care anymore and didn't enjoy the prescriptive regime at Visma.

You're probably right although the timing is still quite strange.

 

[Red Rick]

Tim Heemskerk, performance manager and Vingegaards personal coach, quit effective immediately

 

[AmRacer]

Tim Heemskerk, performance manager and Vingegaards personal coach, quit effective immediately

Remco for #2 GC TdF

 

[Tim Cahill]

What's with the parting shot I wonder, quite pointed, some kind of change in protocol he wasn't happy with or just your standard falling out? This is gold for the Simon Yates Truthers among us, who he coached.

Vingegaard should get himself down to Movistar who are looking good at the moment with your Romeo's your Raul's your Pescador's.

 

[Rob5091]

Maybe Visma team management should have listened to Mrs Vingegaard. She sems to have been the Cassandra in this tragedy.

 

[Red Rick]

Replacing Zeeman with Verhaeren seems like a blunder.

 

[theyoungest]

Replacing Zeeman with Verhaeren seems like a blunder.

They do need some new ideas to be able to compete with the teams that seem to have surpassed them, but I'm not sure the people currently in charge are the ones who are going to bring them those ideas.

What is Mathieu Heijboer's talent? Is he a good coach? To me he seems like someone who's been failing upward. It's not like Wout van Aert has been setting the world alight under his tutelage. The riders that Heemskerk has been coaching (Yates, Jorgenson, Vingegaard) certainly have.

With Verhaeren there's even more of a question whether he has any idea of what is needed in cycling. The results Milan Vader got in the year Verhaeren was his coach suggest he doesn't.

 

[Rackham]

I dumped all over this team when they dominated massively so I'm not about to dump on them for finally appearing human - even if it's just in terms of structural pains at this point. But the writing on the wall is not good regarding Vinge's prospects this year.

You don't casually swap a coach 3 months before the Giro (his coach since 2019) without there being some serious behind-the-scenes turbulence over there.