Shortly After Reaching the Top of the Sport, Cycling Team Jumbo-Visma Is Set to Part Ways With Its Title Sponsor

Title sponsors have always been a trending topic in sports. Sponsorship deals are sought after by many companies in the realm of soccer, football, or basketball. In the world of cycling, just this year, the Jumbo supermarket chain ran through its five-year title sponsorship after the 2023 season. In this period, the Jumbo-Visma pro cycling team has seen unprecedented levels of success.

While both Apple and Amazon were linked to becoming sponsors, the cycling team will continue as Visma-Lease A Bike after nearly two months.?That’s right, Lease A Bike, a bike-leasing company, will be sponsoring the Visma team. The company is owned by a Dutch conglomerate Pon. Pon has a large portfolio in cycling of which Lease A Bike is a small part.

Competition from Big Players

Initially, Visma’s vacant title sponsor spot prompted rumors that the team would pair up with Apple. Team manager Richard Plugge even added fuel to the fire by telling the media of Visma’s apparent ‘North American interest.’?The rumors intensified when he posted a photo of himself and Jumbo-Visma rider Riejanne Markus meeting up with Apple CEO Tim Cook on social media.

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Just weeks later, Amazon also began to show interest, but rather as a ‘minor sponsor’ for around ?15 million. However, those rumors were drowned by bigger conversations around the potential merger between Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep. The move caused waves in the cycling and pro-peloton space. Added to this were the will-he-or-won’t-he questions surrounding the future of 2023 Giro d?Italia winner Primo? Rogli?, who spent nine years at Visma.

However, by the end of the saga, Amazon allegedly took their offer off the table. However, that’s when Lease a Bike stepped in and landed the sponsorship deal. The match is solid as Lease A Bike’s parents Pon, also own cycling bike brands like Cannondale, Gazelle, Focus, Kalkhoff, Schwinn, and Union, as well as Cerv?lo.

How the Sponsorship Deal Stands

Still, Visma has reportedly downplayed the new sponsorship. The reasons and consequences for that are unknown as of yet. However, it could mean that the biggest sponsorship saga of the year is still not exactly over. Still, over the weekend, Jumbo-Visma sports director Merijn Zeeman inspired confidence from the fans. ?It is now certain that we can continue to build this team in the coming years,”?he assured his audience while speaking to the Dutch paper Nieuwsblad.

Regardless of what happens going forward, it is clearly going to be a very interesting journey for Visma. While there is every opportunity for their team to be successful, only time will tell what the future holds for a legendary force in the years to come. We know our eyes are peeled to see what follows for Visma. Let us know if you would have preferred a sponsorship deal between Visma and Apple, or Amazon.

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