First it was the shock retirement of Adam Yates. “This may come as a surprise to many, but it is not a decision I have made lightly,” Yates posted social media. “I have been thinking about it for a long time, and it now feels like the right moment to step away from the sport.”
It was only half a year after he had a magnificent win at the Giro d’Italia after an amazing stage where he took the pink jersey.
“While the victories will always stand out, the harder days and setbacks were just as important. They taught me resilience and patience, and made the successes mean even more,” he said. “To everyone who has supported me, from the staff to my teammates, your unwavering belief and loyalty made it possible for me to realise my own dreams. Whenever I doubted myself, you never did. Thank you.”
Many questioned the timing, as he was supposed to race in 2026.
Tim Heemskerk leaves as well
Then, on Monday, another key Visma staffer announced he was leaving. Coach and trainer Tim Heemskerk said he would be leaving the WorldTour team after eight years. Heemskerk worked closely with Jonas Vingegaard.
“After eight wonderful years with the team, I have, with a heavy heart, decided to stop as coach,” Heemskerk posted.“In the last two or three months, there was too little space for creativity and passion in my daily work. That’s exactly why it’s the right time to step away.
So what’s going on with the bees?
On the Kop over Kop podcast, as reported by Cycluptodate, former Dutch pro Bobbie Traksel spoke about what it could mean.
“If we are talking about the kind of tasks riders sometimes complain about, then he is one of the founders of that approach. Maybe Tim sensed that he could no longer keep up with the rigid way of working that he himself introduced,” he said.
But Trakself went on to say that top-level sport has to be done at one hundred per cent. “If you do it at ninety-nine per cent, you will lose,” he added.
Last year’s Tour de France
As far as the team itself, others have wondered about how everyone was getting along. In 2025, former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis and fellow ex-pro Brian Holm wondered if Vingegaard was happy with his team.
“I don’t think that his team is riding 100 per cent for him,” Holm said. “You can feel it. And Jonas probably knows it too.” Still, Holm said he still thinks that Vingegaard should stay where he is. He suggested it would be wise if Danish DS at Visma to look out for…
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