Can anyone fill the shoes of Simon Yates after his sudden retirement? One rider has been waiting for this chance...

The days leading into the road season are usually quiet. Most teams have their rosters locked with the start fast approaching. That was the case also this January, with final touches before the 2026 Tour Down Under. Then Simon Yates blew everything up.

In a decision that stunned the cycling world, the Visma | Lease a Bike rider announced his immediate retirement. At 33, the most recent Giro d’Italia winner has hung up his wheels without warning.

The shock lies above all in the timing, so close to the season start. Visma has almost no room to react to one of the toughest losses imaginable. First, because of Yates’ level. Second, because he was expected at least to be Jonas Vingegaard’s key lieutenant at the 2026 Tour de France.

What does this mean? That Visma | Lease a Bike must find the answer "in-house." With one of their most important riders gone - who was likely to target either the Giro d’Italia or race the Vuelta a España with freedom to contest the GC (one of those two as a second Grand Tour alongside the Tour)- someone has to step up. That someone should be Matteo Jorgenson.

Since joining Visma | Lease a Bike in 2024 from the Movistar Team, Matteo Jorgenson has made notable strides. The American already showed promise at the telecom squad, but his progression has been bigger with the Dutch team.

Even so, at 26, aside from back-to-back overall wins at Paris–Nice (2024 and 2025), he has yet to cement himself as a peloton star. On the biggest stages he has mostly ridden in support:

Until now, Visma | Lease a Bike were well served by Jorgenson targeting week-long stage races and working for Vingegaard. But without Simon Yates, they lack that rider who can lead at the remaining Grand Tour that their Danish star skips.

Visma is a team that focuses above all on the Grand Tours. Those races matter most by far. They care less about volume of wins per season, unlike UAE Team Emirates - XRG, or the Monuments, as with Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen at Alpecin-Premier Tech. But the Giro, Tour and Vuelta are non-negotiable.

So what’s the situation? As Jonas Vingegaard cannot ride all three in one year, and in theory has already chosen to do the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, Visma | Lease a Bike needs a rider to target victory at the Vuelta a España 2026.

Looking at Visma | Lease a Bike’s current roster, there are hardly any candidates to fight for La Vuelta. Only Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss stand out, and the latter, although he won in 2023, paid for that intense year (after racing both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France) and has not been the same since.

Then there is Davide Piganzoli, Visma’s marquee signing in the last transfer window. But the Italian is still very young and is about to start his first WorldTour season. In fact, he has only ridden the Giro d’Italia twice, both with Alberto Contador’s Polti.

Given all this, Matteo Jorgenson has to take on more responsibility. He must show from the start of the season that he can be that second star at Visma | Lease a Bike, replacing Simon Yates’ departure. Perhaps the team now regrets letting Cian Uijtdebroeks go to Movistar Team. But that’s how things are, and the American has homework to do.