“Stick the knife in and ask: ‘What the hell is going on with Simon Yates?’” – Danish icon urges deeper scrutiny of Visma over shock retirement

The sudden disappearance of Simon Yates from professional cycling is still being treated as an uncomfortable footnote. According to Danish cycling icon Brian Holm, that silence should no longer be accepted.

Speaking on the Café Eddy podcast, Holm challenged both the timing and the handling of Yates’ immediate retirement, questioning why tougher questions were not asked when Team Visma | Lease a Bike addressed the media days later.

His message was blunt: journalists should have pressed harder instead of moving on.

“There are no riders who just stop in January,” Holm said on Café Eddy. “When there’s a press conference, why don’t they stick the knife in and ask: ‘What the hell is going on with Yates?’”

Yates announced on 7 January that he was ending his career with immediate effect, citing a lack of motivation. On paper, the explanation was neat. In reality, the timing raised eyebrows across the peloton.

The 33-year-old was the reigning Giro d’Italia winner, had been involved in early-season planning, and was still being referenced internally as part of Visma’s 2026 thinking. Within days, he was gone. No farewell race. No gradual wind down. No public follow-up.

Holm openly rejected the idea that motivation alone explains such an exit, listing a series of unanswered questions that, in his view, were never properly addressed. He went as far as to say he had heard rumours of internal or financial friction, while stressing that the complete silence since Yates’ announcement only deepens suspicion.

“Is it a kindergarten? Are there problems with whereabouts? Health issues? Have people fallen out?” Holm asked. “None of that has been clarified.”

What has frustrated observers most is not just Yates’ disappearance, but the lack of clarity from the team itself.

That vacuum has fuelled speculation. Since then, the narrative around Visma has quietly shifted. Analysts have questioned whether the team has weakened relative to rivals. Others have pointed to internal reshuffling, with riders like Ben Tulett potentially being asked to step into responsibilities that were never originally planned.

Holm’s criticism cuts directly into that discomfort. His argument is not that Yates owes anyone an explanation, but that a team operating at the top of the sport cannot expect a story of this magnitude to be brushed aside without scrutiny.

This is no longer just about one rider stepping away.

Yates’ retirement has become part of a wider conversation around burnout, pressure, and the cost of operating at the very top of modern cycling. In recent months, Visma have repeatedly spoken about workload management, lighter calendars, and the mental toll of constant expectation. Holm’s comments challenge whether those themes are being discussed openly enough, or whether uncomfortable truths are being left unexplored.

The fact that Yates has gone completely silent since his announcement only adds to the unease. In Holm’s view, that absence does not close the story. It intensifies it.

For a team that prides itself on transparency, process, and long-term planning, the questions surrounding Yates remain unresolved. And as Holm made clear, until they are properly confronted, they will continue to hover over Visma’s 2026 project.