Visma-Lease a Bike face a race against time to find new title sponsor worth at least €30 million if they hope to continue as a super team in pro cycling and compete against UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Lidl-Trek, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and Decathlon-CMA CGM.
Cyclingnews understands that Visma is expected to remain as a minor sponsor but is likely to significantly reduce its funding, leaving a search for a new naming rights title sponsor.
Visma-Lease a Bike won the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana in 2025, and Jonas Vingegaard again finished second to Tadej Pogacar in the Tour de France, while Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the Tour de France Femmes and Paris-Roubaix.
The team is believed to have the fifth or sixth biggest budget in the men’s WorldTour and one of the biggest women’s budgets but team manager Richard Plugge needs to increase his budget by around €10 million to close the gap on his super team rivals and stay competitive in Grand Tours and major Classics.
The team’s financial report revealed that sponsor revenue totalled €37 million in 2024, with €9.6 million of barter value from sponsors via equipment and goods. The team generated another €5 million in 2024 but faced salary costs of €30 million and operating costs of €23 million.
€20m to cover Visma and €10m to catch up
The Dutch team can count on continued sponsorship from Lease a Bike, Skoda, Cervélo, Jumbo supermarkets, SRAM and Rabobank but Visma was not able or willing to make the ‘next step’ beyond 2026, forcing Plugge to start a search for a new title sponsor.
It is estimated that Visma currently provides close to €20 million of the team’s annual sponsorship revenue. Plugge needs a new title sponsor that will cover most of Visma’s €20 million sponsorship and increase it by at least €10 million if they are to compete at the highest level in the years to come.
One trusted source told Cyclingnews that Rabobank could be a logical sponsor to boost Visma-Lease a Bike’s ambitions. However,…
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