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

As announced, Simon Yates will be moving from Jayco-AlUla to Visma | Lease a Bike next year. From a sporting perspective, this is clearly a step forward, but the Brit has revealed that he had to accept a financial cut. He explained this in an interview with outlets including Cyclingnews.

“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.”

"I'm not getting any younger either," said Yates

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.