Category Sports News

Two-time Grand Tour winner Simon Yates has announced his retirement from cycling with immediate effect.

The shock announcement comes just seven months after the 33-year-old Briton clinched a thrilling victory at the 2025 Giro d’Italia.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider also claimed his third stage win at the Tour de France in July last year.

Yates, whose first Grand Tour title was the 2019 Vuelta a Espana, joined the Dutch team on a two-year contract before the 2025 season.

“This may come as a surprise to many, but it is not a decision I have made lightly,” said Yates.

“I have been thinking about it for a long time, and it now feels like the right moment to step away from the sport.”

Visma’s head of racing Grischa Niermann added: “[Winning the Giro d’Italia] was one of the major goals of the season, for us as a team and for Simon personally. The fact that he also went on to win a stage in the Tour de France underlines his class.

Yates and his identical twin brother Adam turned professional in 2014 with Orica-GreenEdge, now known as Jayco-AlUla.

Simon, who spent 11 years with the Australian team before joining Jumbo, finishes his career with 11 Grand Tour stage wins in addition to his two overall victories, while he also won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race in 2020.

His crowning moment was a stunning performance on the penultimate stage of last year’s Giro to snatch the pink jersey and effectively ensure his second Grand Tour title.

It came on the same Colle delle Finestre climb where Yates cracked in 2018, ending his hopes of winning a maiden Grand Tour.

Yates thanked Visma for the team’s “understanding and support of my decision to stop now”.

“You gave me the opportunity to rewrite my history, and through trust and belief, we did it together,” he added.

Representing Great Britain, Yates won the points race at the 2013 Track World Championships before embarking on a professional career on the road.

He competed in the Tour de France eight times, with his best finish being fourth in the general classification in 2023, when his brother Adam was third with UAE Team Emirates.

“Simon was an exceptional climber and general classification rider who always delivered when it mattered most,” Niermann added.

It’s unusual for any cyclist to retire at the beginning of the year, just as teams are gearing up for some hard training in southern Spain, and a gruelling World Tour schedule which begins in Australia.

But for a rider who won one of the sport’s biggest races in spectacular and unexpected fashion last year, it’s an even bigger shock.

Yates is only 33 and has a palmares (list of honours) most professional cyclists can only dream of. But it’s a brutal sport, which requires its very best to be in the saddle for several hours almost every day of their lives.

Perhaps he had simply had enough, or perhaps his talent-drenched team’s 2026 priorities had been adjusted to favour others.

Either way, it may be that Yates’ final competitive dream was realised in his epic redemption on the Colle delle Finestre last year to win the gruelling three-week Giro – reversing an overall deficit to take a near four-minute lead on the race’s toughest mountain climb, seven years after his dramatic capitulation on the same climb’s loose gravel as Chris Froome secured his only Giro title.

That win last May suggested the charming Yates, from Bury in Greater Manchester, had more to offer in a sport ever-more obsessed with youth.

Arne Slot says it is “hard to hear” fans calling his Liverpool side dull and boring and while he does not “completely disagree” he insists he wants to play “attractive football”.

Liverpool are unbeaten in nine games but have come under criticism in recent weeks for lacklustre performances, with draws against Leeds and Fulham after beating Wolves 2-1 at Anfield.

They visit league leaders Arsenal on Thursday (20:00 GMT) and are 14 points adrift of the Gunners in fourth place.

Top scorer Hugo Ekitike is a major doubt with a hamstring injury, though a decision on the Frenchman will be made after training.

When asked about his team being “dull and boring”, Slot replied: “I find it really hard to hear (those words) but it’s not that I completely disagree.

“I would use different words, take certain things into account.

“I want to win as many trophies as I can but I think I’m also known for the fact that my teams always try to play attacking football and can only say that we are trying to do so.”

He added: “We are struggling to create a lot of chances. But as I’ve said many times, we are not the only team that struggles to create a lot of chances. I don’t think the number we create is that different to some other teams that are doing really well in the league.”

In terms of big chances created – a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score, according to Opta statistics – Liverpool have created 53 (but scored 32 goals) in the Premier League this season, which puts them seventh alongside Newcastle (28 goals). Manchester City and Arsenal lead the way with 65 (44 goals) and 62 (40 goals) respectively.

“But I don’t like to hear this of course,” added Slot.

“One thing I’d like is us winning a lot of games but also us playing an attractive style of football which we have also done this season.

Arne Slot says it is “hard to hear” fans calling his Liverpool side dull and boring and while he does not “completely disagree” he insists he wants to play “attractive football”.

Liverpool are unbeaten in nine games but have come under criticism in recent weeks for lacklustre performances, with draws against Leeds and Fulham after beating Wolves 2-1 at Anfield.

They visit league leaders Arsenal on Thursday (20:00 GMT) and are 14 points adrift of the Gunners in fourth place.

Top scorer Hugo Ekitike is a major doubt with a hamstring injury, though a decision on the Frenchman will be made after training.

When asked about his team being “dull and boring”, Slot replied: “I find it really hard to hear (those words) but it’s not that I completely disagree.

“I would use different words, take certain things into account.

“I want to win as many trophies as I can but I think I’m also known for the fact that my teams always try to play attacking football and can only say that we are trying to do so.”

He added: “We are struggling to create a lot of chances. But as I’ve said many times, we are not the only team that struggles to create a lot of chances. I don’t think the number we create is that different to some other teams that are doing really well in the league.”

In terms of big chances created – a situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score, according to Opta statistics – Liverpool have created 53 (but scored 32 goals) in the Premier League this season, which puts them seventh alongside Newcastle (28 goals). Manchester City and Arsenal lead the way with 65 (44 goals) and 62 (40 goals) respectively.

“But I don’t like to hear this of course,” added Slot.

“One thing I’d like is us winning a lot of games but also us playing an attractive style of football which we have also done this season.

Michael Carrick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have emerged as the frontrunners to become Manchester United’s caretaker manager until the end of the season.

The former players, who have both previously managed United, are set for face-to-face talks with the club’s leadership.

It is not out of the question the pair could also work together because Carrick was a significant part of Solskjaer’s coaching team when he replaced Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford in 2018.

Darren Fletcher, United’s current Under-18s coach, who has also been spoken to about the job, will continue as interim manager until a caretaker is appointed. The former midfielder takes charge of his first match on Wednesday, when United visit Burnley (20:15 GMT) in the Premier League.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, the ex-United striker, is also believed to be a contender.

Amorim was sacked on Monday after a turbulent 14 months in charge.

United plan on naming a permanent successor for Amorim in the summer.

One player has told BBC Sport they felt it was possible the role could be shared by more than one of the contenders, or that Fletcher could even stay in the job until the end of the season if the next two matches are positive.

Solskjaer initially took charge in a similar fashion when United sacked Mourinho in 2018, and he subsequently became the full-time manager for three years before he was sacked in November 2021.

Carrick then had a three-game stint as temporary boss after Solskjaer’s dismissal before he left the club in December 2021.

The former England midfielder has been out of work since he was sacked by Championship club Middlesbrough last June after after two-and-a-half years in charge.

Solskjaer was sacked by Turkish club Besiktas in August.

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner and former Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi – now at Marseille – are understood to be early contenders for the full-time job.

Glasner, who won the FA Cup with the Eagles last season, was asked about the link during his news conference on Tuesday.

By far the more experienced of the two frontrunners for the interim Manchester United job, Solskjaer’s managerial career stretches to 332 more games than Carrick’s.

After his playing days ended, Solskjaer’s coaching career got off to a stunning start as he led his former club Molde to their first ever Norwegian title in his first season in charge in 2011, and repeated the feat a year later before leaving to join Cardiff City in 2014.

He was sacked after only nine months in Wales, following their relegation from the Premier League and a poor start back in the Championship.

He returned to Molde for three years before United came calling following the sacking of Mourinho.

He took over as caretaker boss in December 2018 and the role was made permanent in March 2019.

Solskjaer took United to the Europa League final and a second-placed finish in the 2020-21 season, the joint best in the Premier League by a Red Devils manager since Sir Alex Ferguson left.

However, a poor run of results led to his departure just months later, without a trophy to his name. He did, though, have a longer reign than his more experienced predecessors David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho.

After more than three years without a job, the former striker returned to management with Turkish side Besiktas in January 2025. However, his tenure lasted just 29 games and he was sacked in August after losing in the play-offs for both the Europa and Conference League.

Carrick does not boast the same managerial CV as Solskjaer, given he has had only one permanent role with Middlesbrough.

Following his retirement from a glittering playing career at Old Trafford, Carrick immediately joined Mourinho’s coaching staff at Manchester United at the end of the 2017-18 season.

After the Portuguese was sacked, he was kept on as a first-team coach throughout Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s 168-game reign. Following the Norwegian’s departure in November 2021 Carrick took over briefly on an interim basis, winning two and drawing one of his three matches in charge. He left following Ralf Rangnick’s appointment.

Gary O’Neil has been appointed Strasbourg manager after Liam Rosenior left the French Ligue 1 side to join Chelsea earlier this week.

The 42-year-old, who has previously managed Premier League sides Bournemouth and Wolves, said he is “proud” to join a club with a “high-quality squad and clear, ambitious goals for the season”.

The former Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and QPR midfielder added: “Racing has a unique history, extraordinary passion, great resilience, and of course, loyal fans who want to see this team play attractive football and succeed.

“My priority is to work hard with the team and give everything for the club’s success.”

Strasbourg, who sit seventh in Ligue 1, moved swiftly to appoint O’Neil after Rosenior joined Chelsea on a six-and-a-half-year deal on Tuesday.

Strasbourg president Marc Keller said O’Neil, who will take charge of his first match in the French Cup tie at Avranches on Saturday, is a “demanding and respected coach, with a modern approach to football that fits perfectly with our sporting project”.

After beginning his managerial career with Bournemouth, O’Neil has managed 88 times in the Premier League.

But after succeeding Scott Parker as boss during the 2022-23 season and then guiding the Cherries to safety, O’Neil was sacked at the end of the campaign.

He did, though, make a swift return to the dugout in time for the 2023-24 season with Wolves, who he guided to a 14th-place finish in the Premier League and the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Exeter chief executive Tony Rowe hopes a new investor will be in place this year after the company that controls the Chiefs posted more than £10m in losses.

Exeter Rugby Group made an after-tax loss of £10.3m last season as the Chiefs finished a club-worst ninth in the top flight.

The company, which is also responsible for the conferencing business at Sandy Park, was forced to write off a loan of £6.2m, which contributed significantly to the losses.

The loan was associated with the hotel on the Sandy Park site that Rowe bought off the club in December 2022 to help repay some of the club’s Covid-19 related debts – Exeter still owes a number of loans taken out during the pandemic when rugby matches were played behind closed doors.

Without the loan write-off Exeter’s pre-tax losses were just over £3m, a rise of more than £2.5m on the previous year.

Turnover dropped by around £1.5m while wages across the group went up by £1.4m.

While Sandy Park’s income through conferences and events was steady from the previous year at just over £2.5m, the rugby side of the business saw income drop by more than £1.5m as poor results on the field caused a fall in crowd numbers.

“I have no doubt that within the next two to three years you will find us back right at the top knocking on the door for Twickenham and wherever the European Championship final will be,” Rowe told BBC Radio Devon.

Rowe is hopeful a proposed new franchise model for English rugby’s top flight will increase interest in investing in the rugby club.

The 77-year-old businessman has been at the helm at Sandy Park since 1998 and financing, thanks in part to his business success, has helped Exeter rise from the lower leagues to the pinnacle of the domestic game.

The club moved to Sandy Park in 2006 and subsequently expanded the stadium as the Chiefs won two Premiership titles and lifted the 2020 European Champions Cup.

But having sold many of his other business interests, Rowe says it is time for someone else to take up the reins.

“I’ve enjoyed my 30 years running the club and doing what I’ve done, and I made no bones about it, I used the the association with Exeter Chiefs to promote my businesses and that’s how I could afford to put the money into the club,” Rowe said,

“But we’re at a stage now where we’ve got to move on, the club’s got to move on, we’re looking for an investor.

“If I was 20, 30 years younger and offered the opportunity I’d jump at it.

“It will need a bit of money over the next two or three years until we get to franchise, which is likely to be probably be in the next four years, it’s going to still need financially supporting.

“I’m talking to people and we’ve got a a London company that’s dealing with it for us.