<\/p>\n
After the final stage of the Giro, Doull congratulated Yates on finally winning the race that had defined so many seasons of frustration. \u201cAnd he kind of said to me back then, \u2018To be honest, I think this might be me done\u2019. I asked what he meant and he said, \u2018I think I might just stop here. It\u2019s not going to get any better than this\u2019,\u201d Doull said.<\/p>\n
The setting mattered. Yates had just completed three brutal weeks, was standing in pink in Rome and had achieved something that had long felt unfinished. \u201cObviously this was the last day when you\u2019re in Rome, you\u2019ve just done three weeks, and I don\u2019t think he was expecting to be standing in Rome in the pink jersey, so it was a lot to take in for him,\u201d Doull added.<\/p>\n
It was not a formal decision. It was a thought, spoken aloud at the highest emotional point of his career.<\/p>\n
Winning again without forgetting<\/p>\n
What makes that conversation so striking is what followed. Yates did not fade out. He went to the Tour de France and won a stage. He trained, raced and delivered like a rider still fully invested. \u201cHe then went to the Tour and other races but I think it was always in the back of his mind,\u201d Doull said.<\/p>\n
From the outside, nothing suggested someone ready to stop. Inside, Doull believes the idea never really left.<\/p>\n
That fits with what came later. Yates attended Visma\u2019s December training camp, appeared in team material and was part of early planning for the new season. To most, he looked settled.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I saw him at the December camp as well, and he was getting ready for the season and he seemed happy and motivated, but I think that overriding feeling of wanting to stop was a big thing and I have to say chapeau,\u201d Doull said.<\/p>\n
Walking away from everything<\/p>\n
Yates did not leave because he had nothing left to give. He left while still winning, still valued, and still well-paid. \u201cHe\u2019s also getting paid a lot of money to race his bike and he\u2019s saying, \u2018Actually, no, I\u2019ll pass on that. I want to finish at the highest level,\u2019\u201d Doull said.<\/p>\n
That choice is what impresses him most. Not the titles, but the timing. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of sacrifice, a lot of risk, a lot of time away, especially when you\u2019ve been doing it at Simon\u2019s level for so, so long,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Doull contrasted that with his own place in the peloton. \u201cI work just as hard as the other guys but the level of expectation and demand is a lot less for me, so that\u2019s probably why I would be happy to do this for another four, five years or whenever that time comes for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
For riders at the very top, he sees it differently. \u201cBut for those top guys, the level of commitment, scrutiny, and dedication they\u2019re under is a lot. I just think chapeau for not just taking the cheque and doing nothing and instead finishing when he was ready to finish. I think that\u2019s admirable.\u201d<\/p>\n
A shock that was not born overnight<\/p>\n
Yates\u2019 own statement said he had been thinking about stopping \u201cfor a long time\u201d. Doull\u2019s story gives that line a starting point. Not in December, not in January, but in Rome, on the day he finally closed the Giro chapter.<\/p>\n