Visma-Lease a Bike have emerged because the front-runner to signal Simon Yates because the Brit seems to maneuver on after 11 years on the Australian facet now referred to as Jayco AlUla.
Having turned professional with the group as Orica GreenEDGE in 2014, Yates’s contract is because of expire on the finish of this season. Australian rider Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) is reportedly set to affix Jayco and substitute Yates because the GC chief.
Yates’ sturdy hyperlinks to switch to the Dutch outfit had been confirmed by a number of sources first to Het Laatste Nieuws then La Gazzetta dello Sport, with the Brit seeking to be a part of a group that already had leaders in place so he might share the burden on the greatest races.
He’s one in every of a number of new signings closely rumoured to bolster the Dutch squad in 2025 alongside Classics man Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) and Axel Zingle (Cofidis), with Visma’s standing as one in every of biking’s tremendous groups not harmed by their injury-derailed 2024 season.
At Visma, Yates would be a part of Matteo Jorgenson, Sepp Kuss and Cian Uijtdbeoreks one step beneath general chief and two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard however management alternatives would seemingly be up for grabs at one-week WorldTour races and on the Giro and Vuelta.
Vingegaard would undoubtedly be the chief at any race he traces up at, nevertheless, Yates might have taken inspiration from twin brother Adam Yates, who has reached career-best type using as a domestique for Tadej Pogačar at UAE Team Emirates.
Since becoming a member of the Emirati group from Ineos Grenadiers in 2023, Adam Yates has taken 10 wins, together with the opening stage of the Tour in 2023 which noticed him get pleasure from a stint within the yellow jersey. Adam completed third at that Tour general and appears to be using into flying type for the upcoming Tour once more after dominating the current Tour de Suisse alongside teammate João Almeida.
Simon Yates has introduced nice success to Jayco all through his profession, taking general victory at La Vuelta a España in 2018, alongside a podium on the Giro in 2021 and a career-best fourth place ultimately yr’s Tour.
He’s additionally managed 33 wins in his time on the squad at a few of the greatest races, notably two phases on the Tour, six on the Giro and two on the Vuelta, alongside GC victories at Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of the Alps.
But at 31 years previous and after one closing crack on the Tour with Jayco this summer season, Yates is prepared for a brand new position on the Dutch squad. No official affirmation will come till the switch window opens on August 1 however search for Yates in yellow in 2024.
