Team budgets are approaching €60 million, and Visma-Lease a Bike is still hunting for a title sponsor at the Tour de France
Chief business officer isn't concerned and says 'being a first title sponsor of one of the biggest teams in the world could benefit a company a lot'
Visma-Lease a Bike have insisted that they are not concerned that their search for a new title sponsor for the 2027 season remains ongoing during the Tour de France.
Norwegian software company Visma will step down as lead title sponsor in the forthcoming season after eight years lending its name to the team; it joined in 2019 when the team became known as Jumbo-Visma, and since 2024 the Dutch team has been called Visma-Lease a Bike.
Visma will continue to support the team that is headed up by Giro d’Italia winner Jonas Vingegaard and Paris-Roubaix champion Wout van Aert, but in a smaller role. The company, whose revenues and profits have more than doubled since it first invested in the cycling team, is unwilling to invest more than it currently does (thought to be as much as €20m), but will remain a partner.
“We are talking with Visma at the moment about the best way forward and how the future looks with them,” Jasper Saeijs, the team’s chief business officer, told Cycling Weekly. “They’re also changing their strategy a little bit but they think they can still play a big part with the team. They definitely want to stay on board.”
But rising team budgets, approaching €60m per annum, mean that Richard Plugge’s team require a sponsor who is willing to provide tens of millions of euros.
The team have been searching for a replacement for Visma since February, but despite winning the biggest Monument and three of the last four Grand Tours (Vingegaard is currently second to Tadej Pogačar in the Tour de France), so far no agreement has been reached with any prospective partners.
However, Saeijs said the team is not worried. “It’s going really well – we’re having a lot of talks. It’s not that there are no companies who don’t want to step in. And it’s not only AI or cyber security [companies] – it’s a lot of brands showing interest. But for us it’s important to find the right company who fits our culture and our future plans.”
Cycling Weekly heard from one well-placed source that the team was optimistic of finalising terms with a new partner in June, only for that not to happen. When asked if that was the case, Saeijs said: “If we were close or not, that’s the same with the transfers of riders.
“If you’re talking to a lot of companies, of course sometimes you’re close, and sometimes you’re not close. In the end, there’s a deal or there’s not a deal. It’s no different if it’s the first title partner or a lower-tier partner – it’s always the same process.”
Could the team have positive news to share in the coming period? “I don’t know, but we’re not shy of interest. We’re in talks with a lot of companies and also partners who are already with the team. We don’t worry, that’s the position we’re in.”
In the past year the team have welcomed former title sponsor Rabobank as a medium-sized partner, as well as Mistral AI. In total, they have seven companies who are classed as second-tier sponsors.
As a result, the team is less reliant than other teams on the funds provided by their title sponsor(s). “It’s true that the title partnership does not account for 75% of our budget,” Saeijs said.
“We have a really strong partner group, especially with PON and VWFS [Volkswagen Financial Services], Rabobank and Mistral AI. Don’t underestimate that. They are really big partners, and we have 80 in total. So it’s definitely not only the title partnership [that the team depends on].”
Given their status in the past decade as one of the best teams in the peloton, Saeijs said that “we are one of the biggest opportunities within cycling and maybe even in sports partnership if you see what we can do for a company.
He added: “People talk about recognisability, people knowing your brand, but also credibility. Being a first title sponsor of one of the biggest teams in the world could benefit a company a lot, and in many areas.”
