Rohan Dennis to join Jumbo-Visma from Ineos Grenadiers, reports suggest

Reports from the Netherlands suggest that Jumbo-Visma are about to sign Rohan Dennis from their rivals Ineos Grenadiers.

The Australian is in his final year of a two-year contract with Ineos Grenadiers but has been open to moving elsewhere for the 2022 season and beyond. 

He was linked with UAE-Team Emirates, but Dutch newspaper Wielerflits is reporting that the 31-year-old will join his current team’s arch rivals.

Given Dennis’ time trial prowess and his strength at riding in the mountains as a key domestique, were the deal to be confirmed it would represent a major coup for Jumbo-Visma and a blow to Ineos who were thought to be keen to extend his contract.

Dennis was time trial world champion in 2018 and 2019 but has fallen behind his current team-mate Filippo Ganna in the discipline, although Dennis has won two time trials in 2021, including ending an 18-month winning drought at the Volta a Catalunya. 

He played a significant role in the final week of the 2020 Giro d’Italia when he shepherded eventual winner Tao Geoghegan Hart through the Dolomites and effectively blew away the rest of the field with his incessant pace.

It is that type of performance that Jumbo-Visma would have been interested in, looking to strengthen their already star-studded GC team.

With Tony Martin aged 36 and Robert Gesink just a year younger, the Dutch outfit are looking to refresh the team that rides in support of Primoż Roglič and their other GC riders. 

Dennis turned 31 at the end of May so still has a number of years ahead of him at the top of the sport.

A move to Jumbo-Visma would be the third time he has changed teams since 2019, when he joined Bahrain-Merida from BMC Racing but dramatically left the team midway through the season due to a series of disputes.

He eventually signed for British team Ineos Grenadiers, and his departure will be seen as a disappointment by the outfit’s hierarchy.