History of Visma Lease a bike

Visma Lease a bike are one of the more recognised teams in the current pro cycling world with big riders including Wout Van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard. But where did they start?

The team of Kwantum Hallen- Decosol were formed in 1984 and gained 16 wins in their first season including Amstel Gold Race and a stage at the Tour de France. They were made up of 17 riders of Belgian or Dutch nationality, Joop Zoetemelk and Adrie Van Der Poel were among the riders in the team at the start with the former at the end of his career. Van der Poel was only just getting started and would return to the team in 1996 after leaving after the 1986 season.

Rabobank took over as the main sponsor leading to a name change in 1996 and would remain until the 2013 season. During this period they were joined by riders including Oscar Freire who would go on to win the Tour de France and Grischa Niermann who is a current assistant sports director at the team.

The team is now known as Visma Lease a bike and has riders from 10 countries in 2 continents showing how far they have come from the start. They are set to continue with its current name for the next few years at least with Jonas Vingegaard having a contract expiring at the end of 2028 and Wout van Aert having a contract to the end of his career as of 2024.

The graph shown the number of riders and wins the team had each year including this season so far. It is clear that 2023 was their most successful season with 69 victories including the leaders jerseys at all three grand tours as well as wins at the E3 Saxo Classic and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

The 2024 season was far less successful as many riders were forced to abandon races due to crashes and had to change what they were racing. The team were unable to win any of the grand tours or monuments but Jonas Vingegaard managed to finish in second at the Tour de France and Wout van Aert won three stages at the Vuelta.