Rabobank returns to cycling as co-sponsor of Visma

Rabobank is returning to cycling after nearly nine years, signing on as a co-sponsor of Dutch team Visma – Lease a Bike and providing financial backing to TeamNL. The announcement will be made Thursday at the bank’s headquarters in Utrecht, according to WielerFlits.

As with its earlier involvement, Rabobank’s sponsorship will support both elite and grassroots cycling. Starting July 1, its name will feature as a co-sponsor on the jersey of the Netherlands’ biggest cycling team.

A long history in the sport

Visma is one of the oldest teams in pro cycling, beginning in 1984 as Kwantum–Decosol–Yoko.

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The bank ended its sponsorship of the eponymous men’s professional squad in late 2012, a predecessor of today’s Visma team. The decision followed a damning U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report, which exposed doping within the Rabobank team and led the bank to sever ties.

Many of the top cyclists of the era rode for Rabobank, including prominent Dutch riders from the 1990s like Adri van der Poel, Richard Groenendaal, Erik Breukink, Erik Dekker, and Michael Boogerd. In addition, it featured successful international riders like Edwig van Hooydonck, Rolf Sørensen, Johan Bruyneel, Michael Rasmussen and Robbie McEwen. Ryder Hesjedal rode for the Rabobank Continental team before turning pro with U.S. Postal Service. The Victoria native later confessed to using erythropoietin (EPO) after Danish rider Rasmussen named him in his biography.

“We are not convinced that the cycling world is capable of ensuring a clean and fair sport,” Rabobank stated at the time. The sport was mired in scandal, with doping cases dominating the headlines.

Rabobank fully withdrew from top-level cycling in 2013, ending a sponsorship presence that had begun in 1996. The next year, the bank still provided funding but refused to have its brand on the jerseys—the team was instead branded Team Blanco, with plain white kits. Rabobank did continue to sponsor the women’s team, Rabobank – Liv, until 2016.