Wout van Aert on Van Empel and Yates quitting: “It hurts to hear people blame Visma”

Visma | Lease a Bike has been one of the leading cycling teams for years, but it’s not all smooth sailing for the Dutch outfit. Fem van Empel has decided to pause her career indefinitely, while Simon Yates has made a definitive farewell. According to Wout van Aert, this is certainly not due to the team.

In the Live Slow Ride Fast podcast by Laurens ten Dam and Stefan Bolt, Van Aert discusses the retirement of teammate Yates (who won the Giro d'Italia last year) and Van Empel. “I find it disappointing—and it even hurts a bit—that this is being blown out of proportion as something happening within our team,” the Belgian classics specialist says.

“I truly consider Visma | Lease a Bike my team. I know how things work here, and it’s definitely not an inhumane environment. I’m sorry that the situation is being generalized, while that is completely off the mark.”

Sacrifices
“I have the utmost respect for Fem’s and Simon’s decisions, but it has nothing to do with how our team functions. I actually think there is plenty of room to talk about how you feel and whether you need a different approach to, for example, be at home more.”

“But the fact remains: cycling is still cycling. It’s a tough sport that requires many sacrifices. And these sacrifices may be even greater now in the data-driven era we live in. Everything is constantly measured. You have to report how you train, sleep, and where you are. It’s no longer freestyle. It makes perfect sense that more people are turned off by this.”

“I also don’t think we can turn this back,” Van Aert continues. “We will probably see this more and also find it more normal. That a 25-year-old rider says he doesn’t want to do this anymore and quits—something that used to be unthinkable.”