What has been rumoured in recent weeks is now official. Lease a Bike will become the new sub-sponsor of manager Richard Plugge's team on 1 January 2024, while the supermarket chain Jumbo will no longer be on the team's chest. The software company Visma, on the other hand, will remain on board and take first place in the name. The contract with the two title sponsors has been concluded "for an indefinite period", according to the team's website.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike
Tour de France winners are therefore Jonas Vingegaard and his team-mates will be riding under the name Team Visma | Lease a Bike in 2024. Lease a Bike is a brand of Bike Mobility Services GmbH, which is part of Pon Holding - one of the largest bicycle manufacturers with brands such as Cannondale, Cervélo and Focus.
The changes affect all three teams: the men's team, the women's World Tour team and the development team. The new team will be officially presented on Thursday 21 December.
Jumbo-Visma: No mega-merger with Soudal - Quick Step
This brings to an end the months-long hanging game over the future of Jumbo-Visma, which in the meantime has also seen a mega-merger with Soudal - Quick Step, the team around Remco Evenepoelwas up for discussion.
Manager Plugge is happy about the deal: "We are delighted to confirm our new partnership agreements with Visma and Lease a Bike, two strong international companies with whom we already have an excellent relationship. These developing partnerships are another big step forward and ensure that we have the resources to continue to develop and improve as a team," the 53-year-old is quoted as saying on the team's homepage.
It is not known how high the team's budget will be. Most recently, Jumbo-Visma is said to be among the Budgets of the Tour de France teams was the third strongest force with 27 million euros.
