Jumbo-Visma have announced they will be known as Team Visma-Lease a Bike for 2024, confirming a major change in title sponsorship for their men’s, women’s and development teams.
Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo is no longer a title sponsor with Norwegian business software and IT brand Visma becoming the first name title sponsor, reportedly investing around €12 million.
The Pon Group agreed to step up their sponsorship, allowing team manager Richard Plugge to back out of the much discussed merger/takeover with Soudal-QuickStep.
Pon owns Jumbo-Visma’s bike sponsor Cervélo and other bike brands such as Cannondale, Gazelle, Focus and Schwinn. They also import Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda in the Netherlands and have dealerships in the USA for Porsche, Ferrari and other luxury brands, with Pon Holdings BV claiming their annual revenues exceed €10 billion.
In addition to Lease a Bike, Pon will continue its partnership with the team through the Cervélo, Škoda, Nimbl, Reserve Wheels, MAN and BBB Cycling brands.
The team will reveal their new colours and corporate identity at a presentation in Amsterdam on December 21, when the riders’ race schedules will also be outlined.
Wout Van Aert is expected to ride the Giro d’Italia after targeting the Classics, while Jonas Vingegaard targets a third Tour de France victory and Sepp Kuss is expected to be given a leadership role at the Vuelta a Espana after his 2023 victory.
Jumbo-Visma have lost Primoz Roglic to Bora-Hansgrohe, but they have signed Matteo Jorgenson, Ben Tullett and the 2023 Giro Next Gen winner Johannes Staune-Mittet.
Lease a Bike is a small company in the Pon conglomerate that claims 7000 companies in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium have signed up to their bike leasing programme, with 100,000 employees enjoying tax breaks as they lease a bike to ride to work and for recreational use.
The Dutch WorldTour team celebrated its 2023 success and dominance of all three Grand Tours on Thursday evening in the Netherlands and confirmed its 2024 title sponsors.
“Visma and Lease a Bike have signed a contract as title sponsors for an indefinite period,” the team said.
“We are delighted to confirm our new partnership agreements with Visma and Lease a Bike, two strong international companies that we already enjoy an excellent relationship with,” Plugge said.
“These evolving partnerships are another big step forward, ensuring that we have the resources to further develop and improve as a team. Last year, we proved once again that we can grow and be successful together. This is also our common long-term goal.”
Lease a Bike said it plans to expand in Europe and the USA.
“Lease a Bike’s mission is to inspire people to go biking. For sports, for commuting and in everyday life. What better way to spread this message than through an extremely inspiring cycling team?” Ward Matser, the Managing Director at Lease a Bike said.
“We want to encourage people to live healthier and more sustainable lives and see Team Visma-Lease a Bike as a way to contribute to this.
“We are already successful in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria and we are expanding to other countries in Europe and to the USA. We believe in innovation, developing talent and doing things a little better every day. A vision we share with the cycling team.”