{"id":719718,"date":"2026-01-25T12:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T12:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/719718\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T12:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T12:15:10","slug":"hes-even-blocked-all-cycling-related-accounts-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/719718\/","title":{"rendered":"He\u2019s even blocked all cycling-related accounts on social media"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThat combination has prompted some pointed analysis in the latest edition of Eurosport\u2019s Kop over Kop podcast<\/a>, where concerns were raised not only about Yates\u2019 exit, but about whether Visma have done enough to stand still while others move forward.Yates exit leaves a late-season problemWhen the podcast panel ran through the list of departures, the scale of the change was hard to ignore. Alongside Yates, riders such as Dylan van Baarle<\/a>, Attila Valter<\/a>, Cian Uijtdebroeks<\/a> and Olav Kooij<\/a> are no longer part of the project.\u201cIt\u2019s still a strong team, but they haven\u2019t become stronger,\u201d said Jeroen Vanbelleghem on Kop over Kop, pointing directly to the timing of Yates\u2019 decision. \u201cHow are you going to replace Simon Yates<\/a> this late? It\u2019s already January.\u201dThat lateness is key. Visma had already shaped their 2026 Grand Tour plans around Jonas Vingegaard<\/a>, with Yates no longer positioned as a co-leader but still expected to be a central pillar. His retirement removed that safety net without offering the team any real time to react externally.Vanbelleghem does believe Visma will look inward for solutions, adding: \u201cIt could be that Ben Tulett<\/a> gets a bigger role.\u201d But that, too, underlines the risk. Promotion from within is a necessity, not a luxury.Burnout signs hard to ignoreThe circumstances of Yates\u2019 exit also drew scrutiny. Bobbie Traksel<\/a> did not shy away from suggesting a deeper issue, calling the situation \u201cvery painful\u201d and adding: \u201cHe\u2019s completely done. He\u2019s even blocked all cycling-related accounts on social media. That fits with burnout, in my view.\u201d<\/p>\n

What puzzled the panel further was how abruptly that end appeared to arrive. Vanbelleghem questioned why Yates had still appeared publicly in Visma colours and attended Giro-related events, while Jan Hermsen noted that Yates himself had expressed a desire to defend his title, even if the team had not yet confirmed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably because Jonas Vingegaard<\/a> is going,\u201d Vanbelleghem speculated, before asking whether that really had to be a problem. Hermsen\u2019s response was blunt: \u201cThat doesn\u2019t have to clash with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taken together, the comments paint a picture not of a planned transition, but of a late rupture that leaves Visma exposed in areas where stability has long been one of their strengths.<\/p>\n

Pressure building from every side<\/p>\n

Beyond Grand Tours, the podcast panel also looked at Visma\u2019s broader position in the WorldTour hierarchy. Vanbelleghem warned that their second place on the UCI ranking behind UAE is no longer secure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to face serious competition,\u201d he said. \u201cLidl\u2013Trek are going to hurt them, especially now they\u2019ve added Juan Ayuso as a real points scorer. And Visma no longer have Kooij.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew Brennan was mentioned as a possible partial solution, but even that was framed as compensation rather than progression. Traksel added that Red Bull, bolstered by Remco Evenepoel, are also closing fast.<\/p>\n

The consensus was clear. Visma are not collapsing, but the margins that once separated them from the chasing pack are thinning.<\/p>\n

Still strong, but no longer untouchable<\/p>\n

None of the Kop over Kop contributors suggested Visma are about to fall away. The team still revolves around one of the most reliable Grand Tour leaders in the sport, and their internal structure remains among the best in cycling.<\/p>\n

But the tone of the discussion marked a shift. For the first time in years, Visma are being analysed less as the benchmark and more as a team under pressure to defend its place.<\/p>\n

As the experts made clear, 2026 may not be defined by whether Visma can catch UAE, but by whether they can hold off a rapidly closing pack behind them.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" That combination has prompted some pointed analysis in the latest edition of Eurosport\u2019s Kop over Kop podcast,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4104],"tags":[180915,211866,214920,184847,4230,11180,31323,20358,194535,42460,81082,79,180916,181698,16,15],"class_list":["post-719718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-attila-valter","tag-ben-tulett","tag-bobbie-traksel","tag-cian-uijtdebroeks","tag-cycling","tag-dylan-van-baarle","tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-lidl-trek","tag-olav-kooij","tag-red-bull-bora-hansgrohe","tag-simon-yates","tag-sports","tag-team-visma-lease-a-bike","tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115955690522937365","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}