Simon Yates takes a salary cut for transfer to Visma | Lease a Bike: "Just wants to be part of the best team"

“When it was announced that I would be making the move, I saw many comments suggesting that there should be budget caps or salary limits. But I lowered my salary to join Visma | Lease a Bike,” explained the twin brother of Adam Yates. “I just wanted to go there because I want to be part of the best team in the world.”

Yates, who turned 32 this past summer, rode for the team now known as Jayco-AlUla for more than ten years. “I think you have to look at it from the perspective of a rider who wants to get the best out of himself. I had the opportunity to do my own thing with this team for eleven years, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to move to one of these other strong teams now. It’s an exciting opportunity, and I think the timing was right to make the change. After all, I’m not getting any younger.”

"But I’m still highly motivated," Yates concluded, who won the 2018 Vuelta a España. “I still feel strong in my legs. If I had delayed my decision, I probably would have really fallen behind, so this was the moment to make the switch.” In recent months, Visma | Lease a Bike has also signed other riders. Next year, for example, Victor Campenaerts and Axel Zingle will join the team, while brothers Tim and Mick van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Koen Bouwman (Jayco-AlUla) will leave Visma.